A Demigod's Tale
by DragonAce1999
Summary: Percy and his friends are suddenly transported to big room with a bunch of kids and adults. Wait, are those Goode students and teachers? What's going on? When the Fates come and present a book for them to read... Well... Let's just say, all Hades was about to break loose.
1. Prologue

**Title: **A Demigod's Tale**  
Status: **In Progress**  
Fanfiction Type: **Percy Jackson "Reading the Books" Fic**  
Beta: **None**  
Expected Update Rate: **Uncommon; once a month or less.**  
Words per Chapter Goal: **A chapter per chapter.**  
Rating: **T, for safety.**  
Pairings: **Percabeth with touches of other pairings; Frank/Hazel, Jasper, Tratie, etc. No Thalico.**  
Point of View: **Third Person**  
Plot Plans: **Reading "The Last Olympian"**  
Expected At Full Length: **Entire "The Last Olympian"

* * *

**_. : A DEMIGOD'S TALE : ._**

_A Percy Jackson Fanfiction_

_Prologue_

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson in any way, shape, or form.

* * *

Percy blinked in complete and utter confusion. Last he checked, he and Annabeth had been falling down the pits of Tartarus, not sitting in a room with a billion (exaggeration, obviously) other kids and a few adults around him.

Apparently, everyone had been materialized there just as suddenly, too. They instantly erupted into panicked shouts and screams, which made Percy wince and plug his ears.

Demigod-enhanced senses, no matter how slight, were no fun when there was a cacophony of noise. Like right then.

"Everyone, shut _up!_"

His words echoed through the air, shutting up every person that was freaking out and pretty much freezing them in place.

Sighing in relief, Percy removed his hands from his ears. Then he realized that everyone was looking at him. "Um, hi." His eyes widened as he realized that he _knew_ the people in the room. Most of them, anyway. There were some people from Camp Half-Blood, a few from Camp Jupiter, and most from his high school.

_What in Hades…_

"Seaweed Brain," a certain someone muttered from beside him. He turned and grinned, enveloping the daughter of Athena in a hug.

"Wise Girl," he returned, looking her over. She was covered in cobwebs just like he was, scratched and dirty, with a bubble wrap cast around her leg.

It was like something had just randomly sucked them out of Tartarus while they'd tumbled down the endless abyss and plopped them somewhere else.

"Percy!" the Greek demigods chorused, rushing forward and leaving the students and adults (teachers, Percy realized. They were his student peers and his teachers) standing dumbfounded.

He let out a surprised yelp of pain when Thalia punched him hard in the shoulder as a greeting. Rubbing the area of abuse, he muttered, "Glad to see you too, Pinecone Face."

"It didn't hurt, Kelp Head. You have the curse of Achilles," she retorted, sounding a little exasperated. Percy smirked.

"Actually, I don't." Thalia gaped at him.

"What- I didn't even think that it was possible to get rid of that curse! How?"

"Well, it's a long story, but you see-"

"Greeks!" Octavian shrieked, cutting off Percy's explanation as he scrambled up to his feet. "The Greeks are here! Kill them! Kill them all!"

Both sides tensed, all reaching for their respective weapons.

Before anything else could happen, three ancient-looking ladies materialized in the room, knitting socks and sending everyone into a brief moment of shock and panic. Demigods in particular reeled backwards, cringing. Percy recognized them and frowned slightly, wondering why they were here.

The three Fates looked around. "Demigods, legacies, Oracle, and mortals," one of them began. Said mortals looked pretty confused. They were probably wondering what was meant by 'demigods', 'legacies' and 'oracle'. "It has come to our attention that Gaea has planned to rid of the Mist." Demigods began to mutter.

"Her plan is to cause chaos and confusion," the second continued. "And she would have succeeded. The mortals would become suspicious of the demigods and attempt to destroy them along with the gods."

"Gaea would have no trouble rising after that," the last of the Fates finished. She paused in her knitting to take out a book from the folds of her clothes. "Our only hope is this meeting."

"Yes. The mortals will learn of our world, soon. Better it here, in peace, than elsewhere, in the wars to come."

"Do not fret. The outside world's time has been frozen. Until you finish the book, none of you may leave."

"All demigods must introduce themselves and their parentage.

"The Greeks and Romans must have peace."

"That is why both of you are here."

"Stop your war!"

"Gaea is a more important matter."

With that, the Fates vanished. The book remained, floating in the midair.

For a moment, everyone was silent. Then, Percy stood.

"I guess I'll start," he shrugged. Whispers rippled through the large crowd.

"Percy Jackson?" one of the mortals asked. "Is that you?"

He smiled. "Yup, in the flesh." The whispers increased. "Anyways, hi, I'm Percy, in case you didn't know that, but I'm pretty sure that all of you do. My father is Poseidon."

"What?! Poseidon doesn't exist!" many of the teachers and students shouted in protest. Paul, of course, just stood by with an amused look on his face, probably relishing in the fact that he knew something the others didn't, for a change.

"Actually, Poseidon does exist," Annabeth interrupted as she stood, glaring at the ones who had called out. Most of them shrunk under her sharp, scathing gaze. "And the other Greek gods are real as well. I'm Annabeth, daughter of Athena."

One by one, the demigods stood and introduced themselves. Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, Nico, Leo, Piper, and the Stolls represented the Greek gods, while Jason, Frank, Hazel, Octavian, Reyna, Gwen, Dakota, and Bobby were there from the Roman side. Rachel Elizabeth Dare explained who she was as well.

"How about we separate everyone to make things a little easier?" Annabeth suggested once Rachel finished and sat down. "Romans on the left side, mortals in the center, and Camp Half-Blood on the right?"

"It'll decrease our chances of fighting," Frank agreed, glancing uneasily at Reyna, Octavian, Dakota, Gwen, and Bobby.

A few minutes later, everyone was settled. The students seemed to be just about exploding with questions, not that the teachers were any better, but they managed to shush everyone momentarily. Still, a few daring students tried to pester the demigods. Once they realized that they weren't getting any answers, they reluctantly shut up.

Percy went to the book and plucked it from the air. A stool materialized beside him, indicating that the reader was supposed to sit there. He looked out to the audience. "Hey, Paul," he called. "Do you mind reading? You're the English teacher, after all, and I'm dyslexic."

"Sure," he answered, going to the head of the gathered crowd as Percy went back to his girlfriend and sat on the carpeted ground beside her.

"Wait," one of Goode's teachers interrupted. "You knew about all this, Paul?"

"Of course," the he replied mischievously. "Through Percy."

"And my mom, Sally," added the said son of Poseidon. "She knows, too."

"How come?" the teacher inquired.

"She can see through the Mist, which is apparently going away soon."

"What's the Mist?"

"Wait and see!"

Paul cleared his throat to get everyone's attention and opened the book, flipping a couple pages. He glanced at the page for a moment before smiling.

"Chapter one of The Last Olympian, I Go Cruising With Explosives," he read. The mortals and Romans looked at him strangely, but the Greek demigods chuckled with laughter at the title before realizing what the chapter was about.

They instantly became solemn.

_This is going to be a long day_, Percy thought with an internal groan, recalling all the different depressing and stupid events that had taken place.

Paul grinned at his stepson before continuing.

* * *

**DragonAce1999: I'm sorry! *hides behind Backjack* I swear I'm working on Guild of Chaos, and I can even picture the scenes in my head, but I ran into a little block, so I'm working on this in my free time. It's also why the quality of this story will be below my other stories; this one has not been typed and retyped and deleted and typed again.**

**Thanks for reading... I'll try to get the next chapter done ASAP.**

* * *

Published: 4/14/13  
Updated: 7/11/13


	2. I Go Cruising with Explosives

**Title: **A Demigod's Tale**  
Status: **In Progress**  
Fanfiction Type: **Percy Jackson "Reading the Books" Fic**  
Beta: **None**  
Expected Update Rate: **Uncommon; once a month or less.**  
Words per Chapter Goal: **A chapter per chapter.**  
Rating: **T, for safety.**  
Pairings: **Percabeth with touches of other pairings; Frank/Hazel, Jasper, Tratie, etc. No Thalico.**  
Point of View: **Third Person**  
Plot Plans: **Reading "The Last Olympian"**  
Expected At Full Length: **Entire "The Last Olympian"

* * *

**_. : A DEMIGOD'S TALE : ._**

_A Percy Jackson Fanfiction_

_Chapter One: I Go Cruising with Explosives_

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson in any way, shape, or form.

* * *

**The end of the world started when a pegasus landed on the hood of my car.**

"A pegasus?" a student inquired.

"You have a car?" the demigods asked.

Percy sighed. "Yes, a pegasus. No, I don't have a car, so don't even think about it, Stolls," he added, giving the well-known (in Camp Half-Blood, anyway) thieves and pranksters a sideways glance. The sons of Hermes pouted playfully at him.

"Is this in your point of view?" another kid questioned. Percy nodded.

"I didn't think it would be, but after reading that… Yeah, guess it is."

**Up until then, I was having a great afternoon. Technically I wasn't supposed to be driving because I wouldn't be sixteen for another week, but my mom and my stepdad, Paul, took my friend Rachel and me to this private stretch of beach on the South Shore, and Paul let us borrow his Prius for a short spin.**

"That was really irresponsible of him," several of the teachers muttered. Paul smirked as he read the next line.

**Now, I know you're thinking, _Wow, that was really irresponsible of him, blah, blah, blah,_ **

The teachers blushed a little as their comments were repeated while everyone else laughed lightly.

**but Paul knows me pretty well. He's seen me slice up demons and leap out of exploding school buildings, so he probably figured taking a car a few hundred yards wasn't exactly the most dangerous thing I'd ever done.**

"Not by far," the demigods murmured to themselves as they looked at the son of Poseidon, who shrugged. It was true, no denying it. The mortals were startled at how easily the demigods accepted it and wondered what could be so horrible about being half god. Most of the students were wishing that they were demigods. They thought it would be awesome to have cool powers.

**Anyway, Rachael and I were driving along. It was a hot August day. Rachel's red hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wore a white blouse over her swimsuit. I'd never seen in anything but ratty T-shirts and paint-splattered jeans before, and she looked like a million golden drachmas.**

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "A million golden drachmas, Seaweed Brain?" Percy grinned and pulled her into a hug.

"Yup. But, on the other hand, you're so beautiful that nothing can describe it, so I'm not even going to try," he said. The girls cooed as Annabeth blushed, punching him gently as she muttered something about him being too cheesy. He smirked at her in response.

"You're just too lazy to come up with a better compliment," Nico corrected with a cheeky grin.

"Oh, shut up, Zombie Dude."

"Whatever you say, Aqua Man. You know it's true."

**"Oh, pull up right there!" she told me.**

**We parked on a ridge overlooking the Atlantic. The sea is always one of my favorite places, but today it was especially nice – glittery green smooth as glass, as though my dad was keeping it calm just for us.**

**My dad, by the way, is Poseidon. He can do stuff like that.**

"We know!" the Stoll brothers yelled. Percy rolled his eyes at them.

**"So." Rachel smiled at me. "About that invitation."**

**"Oh… right." I tried to sound excited. I mean, she'd asked me to her family's vacation house on St. Thomas for three days. I didn't get a lot of offers like that. **

"I don't think anyone does," a classmate commented drily.

**My family's idea of a fancy vacation was a weekend in a rundown cabin on Long Island with some movie rentals and a couple of frozen pizzas, and here Rachel's folks were willing to let me tag along to the Caribbean.**

"Why _wouldn't_ you be excited for that?" almost every student in Goode wondered. Percy shrugged, deciding to let the book explain.

"You'll see." The students and teachers wondered why they felt like they were going to hear that phrase a lot.

**Besides, I seriously needed a vacation. This summer had been the hardest of my life. The idea of taking a break even for a few days was really tempting.**

"All the more reason to go," a classmate pointed out with a nod. Others agreed with him, but Percy just shook his head beckoning for Paul to continue.

**Still, something big was supposed to go down any day now. I was "on call" for a mission. Even worse, next week was my birthday.**

"Even worse?" someone echoed. "Dude, birthdays make everything _better_!"

"Not if a prophecy says otherwise," Percy sighed.

**There was this prophecy that said when I turned sixteen, bad things would happen.**

"Oh."

"Very bad things," Annabeth agreed, leaning into her boyfriend's touch. The Romans, specifically Octavian, Reyna, and Gwen, exchanged looks. They knew of that prophecy and had thought it was a dud of sorts, since it never came to pass.

Apparently, it had. Just not on their side of the war.

**"Percy," she said, "I know the timing is bad. But it's _always_ bad for you, right?"**

**She had a point.**

The demigods nodded grimly. Again, the mortal students wondered what was so bad about being so powerful.

**"I really want to go," I promised. "It's just–"**

**"The war."**

The teachers frowned, not liking the idea of kids young enough to still be in school fighting in a war that would determine the fate of the world. The demigods, however, were all too used to it. After all, they were plunging into yet another one.

**I nodded. I didn't like talking about it, but Rachel knew. Unlike most mortals, she could see through the Mist – the magic veil that distorts human vision. **

"I still think that's cool," one of the class clowns grinned, thinking of all the things he could get away with. A couple others agreed.

A jock, James, scoffed. "Not really. We're all going to be able to see through this Fog thing sooner or later, like those old ladies said."

"Mist," Piper and Annabeth corrected.

"Doesn't matter. Isn't important."

"Yes, it is," Annabeth retorted.

James rolled his eyes. "Why are you all so afraid of a trio of old ladies, anyway? They're just old people. Wimps."

"Fool!" This time, it was Reyna who spoke up. "Those are the three Fates! They decide who die, and when."

Paul cleared his throat, wanting to steer away from that topic.

**She'd seen monsters. She'd met some of the other demigods who were fighting the Titans and their allies. She'd even been there last summer when the chopped-up Lord Kronos rose out of his coffin in a terrible new form, and she'd earned my permanent respect by nailing him in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush.**

"Seriously?" someone asked, laughing with the rest of the room, although most of them had pictures of awe on their faces too. "A blue plastic hairbrush?"

"That's right," Percy confirmed, glancing at the Oracle.

"It was all I had," Rachel defended, blushing a little as she tried to ignore the looks she was getting. She was smiling, though, slightly proud of herself.

**She put her hand on my arm. "Just think about it, okay? We don't leave for a couple of days. My dad…" Her voice faltered.**

**"Is he giving you a hard time?" I asked.**

**Rachel shook her head in disgust. "He's trying to be _nice_ to me, which is almost worse. He wants me to go to Clarion Ladies Academy in the fall."**

Another one of Percy's classmates, one decidedly more 'girly' than most other people, squealed. "That's, like, my dream school!" She turned to Rachel. "You're _so_ lucky!"

"Not really," she replied with a sigh.

**"The school where your mom went?"**

**"It's a stupid finishing school for society girls, all the way in New Hampshire. Can you see me in finishing school?"**

**I admitted the idea sounded pretty dumb. Rachel was into urban art projects and feeding the homeless and going to protest rallies to "Save the Endangered Yellow-bellied Sapsucker" and stuff like that. I'd never even seen her wear a dress. It was hard to imagine her learning to be a socialite.**

"Still," the girl protested stubbornly. Everyone else glanced at Rachel and agreed with Percy.

**She sighed. "He thinks if he does a bunch of nice stuff for me, I'll feel guilty and give in."**

**"Which is why he agreed to let me come with you guys on vacation?"**

**"Yes… but Percy, you'd be doing me a huge favor. It would be _so_ much better if you were with us. Besides, there's something I want to talk–" She stopped abruptly.**

**"Something you want to talk about?" I asked. "You mean… so serious we'd have to go to St. Thomas to talk about it?"**

Another student, sitting closest to Percy, leaned over. "Oblivious," she sang into his ear quietly.

He blushed. "It's not like that!" he hissed. She giggled.

"Sure… Whatever you say."

**She pursed her lips. "Look just forget it for now. Let's pretend we're a couple for normal people. We're out for a drive, and we're watching the ocean, and it's nice to be together."**

**I could tell something was bothering her, but she put on a brave smile. The sunlight made her hair look like fire.**

Leo hummed "This Girl is on Fire" under his breath, sparking a flame on his fingertips as he did so. Piper reached over to slap him, but he suddenly sat up straight and set his hair on fire. The mortals yelped in surprise, but Leo turned to Percy. "Did she look like this?" he asked.

"No," Percy sighed, pulling water vapor out of the air and dousing the fire with a twitch of his hand. "Don't do that, Leo. I think you're scaring the mortals."

"He just set his hair on fire… and didn't get burned," the chemistry teacher muttered to himself, sounding quite startled. "Science doesn't work in the world of gods, I guess."

**We'd spent a lot of time together this summer. I hadn't exactly planned it that way, but the more serious things got at camp, the more I found myself needing to call up Rachel and get away, just for some breathing room. I needed to remind myself that the mortal world was still out there, away from all the monsters using me as their personal punching bag.**

"Cowards," James taunted. Immediately, a silver arrow pinned the legs of his jeans to the ground as Thalia glared at him.

"Don't even go there," she snarled. He recoiled a little.

"Demigods, so violent," he muttered once she turned her attention away from him, pulling out the arrow with a wince as he did so.

"Heard that. Do you want another arrow, _boy_?"

James shook his head rapidly. Percy snickered and whispered in Annabeth's ear, "Who's the coward now?"

**"Okay," I said. "Just a normal afternoon and two normal people."**

**She nodded. "And so… hypothetically, if these two people liked each other, what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss the girl, huh?"**

"Winning a war," Annabeth mused to herself silently as Percy buried his face in her hair, more than just a little embarrassed as everyone smirked knowingly at him.

**"Oh…" I felt like one of Apollo's sacred cows – slow, dumb, and bright red. "Um…"**

"Like how you look – and probably feel – right now?" Nico asked innocently. Percy jerked upright and punched him. The son of Hades stuck his tongue out at him in return.

**I can't pretend I hadn't thought about Rachel. She was so much easier to be around than… well, than some other girls I knew.**

Annabeth narrowed her eyes. "You'd better not be thinking about me, Seaweed Brain."

"But I'm always thinking about you!" he protested innocently.

"You know what I mean."

"But what if I don't?"

"Then I will gut you with my knife." Percy yelped and ducked behind his cousins, who were laughing their heads off.

"Save me," he pretended to beg. They laughed even harder, with their other friends joining in as well. Meanwhile, everyone else just stared at the exchange in bemusement, especially the Romans.

**I didn't have to work hard, or watch what I said, or rack my brain trying to figure out what she was thinking. Rachel didn't hide much. She let you know how she felt.**

**I'm not sure that I would have done next – but I was so distracted, I didn't notice the huge black form swooping down from the sky until four hooves landed on the hood of the Prius with a _WUMP-WUMP-CRUNCH!_**

The mortals blinked in confusion while some of the demigods muttered, "Saved by the pegasus."

**_Hey, boss_, a voice in my head said. _Nice car!_**

Their confusion grew even more.

**Blackjack the pegasus was an old friend of mine, so I tried not to get too annoyed by the craters he'd just put on the hood; but I didn't think my stepdad would be a real stoked.**

Paul glanced at Percy, who rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced apologetically. Everyone else finally understood what was going on – mostly, anyway.

"You can talk to pegasi?" asked a peer excitedly. "That's so cool!"

"Yeah, since they're related to horses, and my dad created the horses… They treat me like I'm their king or something."

"Horse royalty," Travis snickered. Connor heard and laughed.

**"Blackjack," I sighed. "What are you–"**

**Then I saw who was riding on his back, and I knew my day was about to get a lot more complicated.**

**"'Sup, Percy."**

**Charles Beckendorf, senior counselor for the Hephaestus cabin, would make most monsters cry for their mommies. **

Percy smiled sadly with the Camp Half-Blood campers as most of the mortals laughed a little at the description. Demigods from Camp Jupiter raised eyebrows, wondering if Percy had been exaggerating. Leo grinned excitedly, hoping to learn more about the previous counselor.

**He was huge, with ripped muscles from working on the forges every summer, two years older than me, and one of the camp's best armorsmiths.**

The Romans frowned, wondering where their Greek counterparts got their metal. Octavian instantly came to what he thought was the logical conclusion; they'd stolen their Imperial gold, obviously! He tapped Reyna's shoulder, but she fixed him with a single glare.

"No. Stop accusing them, Octavian. Or do you dare go against the Fates?"

Jason overheard and narrowed his eyes at the descendent of Apollo. "For your information, they use Celestial bronze," he growled. "Imperial gold is practically nonexistent to them."

Octavian gritted his teeth, but relented… for now.

**He made some seriously ingenious mechanical stuff. A month before, he'd rigged a Greek firebomb in the bathroom of a tour bus that was carrying a bunch of monsters across country. The explosion took out a whole legion of Kronos's evil meanies as soon as the first harpy went _flush_.**

"Whoa!" Several people grinned. "That's awesome!"

"Such a great idea," Leo agreed.

**Beckendorf was dressed for combat. He wore a bronze breastplate and war helm with black camo pants and a sword strapped to his side. His explosives bag was slung over his shoulder.**

**"Time?" I asked.**

**He nodded grimly.**

"For what?" everyone from Goode wondered.

**A clump formed in my throat. I'd known this was coming. We'd been planning it for weeks, but I'd half hoped it would never happen. **

**Rachel looked up at Beckendorf. "Hi."**

**"Oh, hey. You must be Rachel. Percy's told me… uh, I mean he mentioned you."**

The student body rolled their eyes, some stifling chuckles as they did so.

**Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Really? Good." She glanced at Blackjack, who was clopping his hooves against the hood of the Prius. **

"More dents," Paul sighed, pausing in the reading.

Percy apologized again.

**"So, I guess you guys have to go save the world now."**

Once again feeling rather protective, the teachers internally cursed the fact that _kids_, of all people, had to save the world. What pressure!

**"Pretty much," Beckendorf agreed.**

**I looked at Rachel helplessly. "Would you tell my mom–"**

**"I'll tell her. I'm sure she's used to it. And I'll explain to Paul about the hood."**

"Unfortunately, I was still blamed," Percy sighed.

**I nodded my thanks. I figured this might be the last time Paul loaned me his car.**

"Maybe," Paul said before continuing.

**"Good luck." Rachel kissed me before I could even react.**

Everyone looked at Annabeth expectantly, waiting for her to blow up on Percy or something. She shrugged. Percy had already confessed it to her, and she was smarter than to blame Percy for Rachel's actions; she was wisdom's daughter, after all! Besides, Rachel was the Oracle now, meaning she was a sworn maiden, like the Hunters.

**"Now, get going, half-blood. Go kill some monsters for me."**

"Encouraging."

**My last view of her was sitting in the shotgun seat of the Prius, her arms crossed, watching as Blackjack circled higher and higher, carrying Beckendorf and me into the sky. I wondered what Rachel wanted to talk to me about, and whether I'd live long enough to find out.**

"Wow, you have such pessimistic thoughts," Frank realized. "You acted so optimistic all the time during our quest."

"Not really, remember the muskeg?"

"Well, we were all pessimistic at that point."

"No, Hazel wasn't, and you were just panicking."

"My friends almost suffocated, of course I was panicking!"

"And to be honest, I wasn't that optimistic in my head," Hazel added.

The ones who couldn't follow the conversation were confused.

**"So," Beckendorf said, "I'm guessing you don't want me to mention that little scene to Annabeth."**

"I told her anyway," Percy grinned.

**"Oh, gods," I muttered. "Don't even think about it."**

"Seemed like you dreaded the thought at that point," someone observed.

"Well, we didn't exactly sort out our feelings until later," Percy laughed uneasily. "Until then…"

"You have to suffer through his stupidity!" the Stoll brothers yelled, making everyone laugh.

**Beckendorf chuckled, and together we soared out over the Atlantic.**

**It was almost dark by the time we spotted our target. The _Princess Andromeda_ glowed on the horizon – a huge cruise ship lit up yellow and white. From a distance, you'd think it was just a party ship, not the headquarters for the Titan lord. Then as you got closer, you might notice the giant figurehead – a dark-haired maiden in a Greek chiton, wrapped in chains with a look of horror on her face, as if she could smell the stench of all the monsters she was being forced to carry.**

"Do they smell?"

"Generally, we can only smell the really obvious ones," Annabeth answered. "Satyrs can scent almost all of them, though."

**Seeing the ship again twisted my gut into knots. I'd almost died twice on the _Princess Andromeda_. Now it was heading straight for New York.**

Some people shifted nervously.

"Wait, _twice?_" someone asked.

Percy nodded. "Yeah, in earlier years. Not very happy memories."

**"You know what to do?" Beckendorf yelled over the wind. I nodded. We'd done dry runs at the dockyards in New Jersey, using abandoned ships as our targets. I knew how little time we would have. But I also knew this was our best chance to end Kronos's invasion before it ever started.**

"I guess it didn't work," a couple students mused sadly, wondering what went wrong during their 'mission'.

**"Blackjack," I said, "set us down on the lowest stern deck."**

**_Gotcha, boss_, he said. _Man, I hate seeing that boat._ **

"Even the pegasi don't like Kronos?"

"Well, Blackjack has some personal issues against the ship, which you'll probably see soon," Percy corrected. "But later, I think Kronos said something about making pegasus soup, so… Yeah, they don't really like him."

**Three years ago, Blackjack had been enslaved on the _Princess Andromeda_ until he finally escaped with a little help from my friends and me. I figured he'd rather have his mane braided like My Little Pony than be back here again.**

"Oh, I see now."

The Stoll brothers shared an evil grin, making the nearby people edge away. Percy saw them and deducted what they were thinking of, but let it slide.

**"Don't wait for us," I told him.**

**_But, boss–_**

**"Trust me," I said. "We'll get out ourselves."**

**Blackjack folded his wings and plummeted toward the boat like a black comet. The wind whistled in my ears. I saw monsters patrolling the upper decks of the ship – _dracaenae_ snake-woman, hellhounds, giants, and the humanoid seal-demons known as telkhines – but we zipped by so fast, none of them raised the alarm. **

"That's pretty fast," Reyna murmured, not sure if her pegasus was even that fast. Jason recalled the time he'd seen Blackjack, and decided he wasn't too surprised at his speed.

**We shot down the stern of the boat, and Blackjack spread his wings, lightly coming to a landing on the lowest deck. I climbed off, feeling queasy.**

"Air sickness," Percy said. "Sons of Poseidon don't belong in Zeus's domain, even though pegasi are neutral ground."

**_Good luck, boss_, Blackjack said. _Don't let 'em turn you into horse meat!_**

A few nervous titters echoed through the room.

**With that, my old friend flew off into the night. I took my pen out of my pocket and**

"What, are you going to write on the monsters?" James snorted, interrupting Paul mid-sentence and forgetting about his earlier experience with Thalia. She didn't need to remind him, though. Percy simply stood, slipped the said pen out of his pocket, and uncapped it.

It lengthened into its true form; a glowing Celestial bronze sword.

"Quick lesson," he said, and lunged forward, thrusting the blade through the jock's chest. The boy stumbled backwards in shock as the teachers sprang forward in alarm. They were startled to see that he was completely unharmed.

Percy smirked. "As you just saw, Celestial bronze passes through mortals, because they're not important enough for the metal to kill." Some mortals frowned at his definition. "However, it _is_ lethal to monsters and other mythical beings."

**uncapped it, and Riptide sprang to full size – three feet of deadly Celestial bronze glowing in the dusk.**

James flushed at the mention of the sword, muttering under his breath about how all demigods were wimps and how he was so much better than them because he didn't depend on freaky powers.

Hazel heard and flinched slightly, recalling when she was called a 'freak'.

Frank noticed and put an arm around her shoulders in reassurance. She smiled at him gratefully.

**Beckendorf pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. I thought it was a map or something. Then I realized it was a photograph. He stared at it in the dim light – the smiling face of Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite. **

Piper sat up straighter, just as eager to learn about Silena as Leo was about Beckendorf.

**They'd started going out last summer, after years of the rest of us saying, "Duh, you guys like each other!" Even with all the dangerous missions, Beckendorf had been happier this summer than I'd ever seen him.**

The girls cooed, even Piper, who tended to avoid doing anything that seemed Aphrodite-like.

**"We'd make it back to camp," I promised.**

Percy closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He would have to hear about his friends' deaths again. Annabeth, sensing his uneasiness, leaned into his side and whispered soothingly in his ear.

Leo frowned as he suddenly understood what would happen.

**For a second I saw worry in his eyes. Then he put on his old confident smile.**

**"You bet," he said. "Let's go blow Kronos back into a million pieces."**

Some of the more immature students cheered.

**Beckendorf led the way. We followed a narrow corridor to the service stairwell, just like we'd practiced, but we froze when we heard noises above us.**

Everyone tensed, wondering if things were going to go wrong already.

**"I don't care what your noses says!" snarled a half-human, half-dog voice – a telkhine. "The last time you smelled half-blood, it turned out to be a meat loaf sandwich!"**

"We do not smell like meat loaf sandwiches!" the demigods protested, much to the amusement of the mortals.

**"Meat loaf sandwiches are good!" a second voice snarled. "But this is half-blood scent, I swear. They are on board!"**

**"Bah, your _brain_ isn't on board!"**

"Nice comeback. Still wrong, though."

**They continued to argue, and Beckendorf pointed downstairs. We descended as quietly as we could. Two floors down, the voices of the telkhines started to fade.**

Everyone was greatly amused and surprised – the mortals were, at least. "Monsters are so dumb," one of the students laughed.

"Luckily for us," Leo agreed.

**Finally, we came to a metal hatch. Beckendorf mouthed the words "engine room."**

**It was locked, but Beckendorf pulled some chain cutters out of his bag and split the bolt like it was made of butter.**

"That's cool," a student said. "We should get one of those. You know, as defense from monsters," he added hastily when some teachers sent looks his way.

**Inside, a row of yellow turbines the size of grain silos churned and hummed. Pressure gauges and computer terminals lined the opposite wall. A telkhine was hunched over a console, but he was so involved with his work, he didn't notice us. He was about five feet tall, with slick black seal fur and stubby little feet. He had the head of a Doberman, but his clawed hands were almost human. He growled and muttered as he tapped on his keyboard. Maybe he was messaging his friends on uglyface. com.**

"Sure," Nico snorted. "That's totally what he was doing."

**I stepped forward, and he tensed, probably smelling something wrong. He leaped sideways toward a big red alarm button, but I blocked his path. He hissed and lunged at me, but one slice of Riptide, and he exploded into dust.**

Some students cheered quietly.

**"One down," Beckendorf said. "About five thousand to go."**

The cheering ceased, to be replaced by groans.

**He tossed me a jar of thick green liquid – Greek fire, one of the most dangerous magical substances in the world.**

"Then should you really be tossing it around like that?" someone inquired.

"Well, we've been using Greek fire for a while now. We know how to handle it. Most of the time."

"Reassuring," she muttered.

**The he threw me another essential tool of the demigod heroes – duct tape.**

"Duct tape is awesome!" the Stolls and Leo yelled gleefully.

**"Slap that one on the console," he said. "I'll get the turbines."**

**We went to work. The room was hot and humid, and in no time we were drenched in sweat.**

**The boat kept chugging along. Being the son of Poseidon and all, I have perfect bearings at sea. Don't ask me how, but I could tell we were at 40.l9° North, 7I.90° West, making eighteen knots, which meant the ship would arrive in New York Harbor by dawn.**

"Your powers are awesome," one of the younger students said with a smile.

**This would be our only chance to stop it.**

**I had just attached a second jar of Greek fire to the control panels when I heard the pounding of feet on metal steps – so many creatures coming down the stairwell I could hear them over the engines. Not a good sign.**

Everybody tensed.

**I locked eyes with Beckendorf. "How much longer?"**

**"Too long." He tapped his watch, which was our remote control detonator. "I still have to wire the receiver and prime the charges. Ten more minutes at least."**

**Judging from the sound of the footsteps, we had about ten seconds.**

"Crap," someone muttered, which summed up the situation and everyone's thoughts pretty well.

**"I'll distract them," I said. "Meet you at the rendezvous point."**

**"Percy–"**

**"Wish me luck."**

Percy held Annabeth's hand tighter.

**He looked like he wanted to argue. The whole idea had been to get in and out without being spotted. But we were going to have to improvise.**

**"Good luck," he said.**

**I charged out the door.**

"Kick their butts!" some students encouraged, ignoring the fact that they were speaking to a book that had already happened.

**A half dozen telkhines were tromping down the stairs. I cut through them with Riptide faster than they could yelp. I kept climbing – past another telkhine, who was so started he dropped his Lil' Demons lunch box. I left him alive – partly because his lunch box was cool,**

"Only you, Percy," Thalia sighed, rolling her eyes. "Boys."

**partly so he could raise the alarm and hopefully get his friends to follow me rather than head towards the engine room.**

"I had a reason, see?"

**I burst through a door onto deck six and kept running. I'm sure the carpeted hall had once been very plush, but over the last three years of monster occupation the wallpaper, carpet, and stateroom had been clawed up and slimed so it looked like the inside of a dragon's throat (and yes, unfortunately, I speak from experience).**

The teachers looked horrified.

**Back on my first visit to the _Princess Andromeda_, my old enemy Luke had kept some dazed tourist on board for show, shrouded in Mist so they didn't realize they were on a monster-infested ship. Now that I didn't see any sign of tourists. I hated to think what had happened to them, but I kind of doubted they'd been allowed to go home with their bingo winnings.**

"Did he kill them?" the young student asked, afraid of the answer.

"They're dead," Percy confirmed sadly. "Don't know what happened to them, maybe monsters, maybe Kronos, but…"

**I reached the promenade, a big shopping mall that took up the whole middle of the ship, and I stopped cold. In the middle of the courtyard stood a fountain. And in the fountain squatted a giant crab. **

**I'm not talking "giant" like $7.99 all-you-can-eat Alaskan king crab. I'm talking _giant_ like bigger than the fountain. **

People gaped.

A life science teacher muttered in amazement under his breath.

**The monster rose ten feet out of the water. Its shell was mottled blue and green, its pincers longer than my body. **

"That's _huge._ How'd you beat that thing?"

"I'm just awesome like that," Percy joked.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Nah, just luck," he told the inquirer.

"_Skill_," Percy chided, causing Annabeth to punch him lightly.

**If you've ever seen a crab's mouth, all foamy and gross with whiskers and snapping bits, you can imagine this one didn't look any better blown up to billboard size.**

"Disgusting," a girl muttered. Her friends agreed.

**Its beady black eyes glared at me, and I could see intelligence in them – and hate. The fact that I was the son of the sea god was not going to win me any points with Mr. Crabby.**

"Of course not," Annabeth sighed. "Your luck is terrible."

Percy smiled sheepishly.

**_"FFFFfffffff,"_ it hissed, sea foam dripping from its mouth. The smell coming off it was like garbage can full of fish sticks that had been sitting in the sun all week.**

"Yuck," the girl from before said, pushing the mental smell out of her head.

**Alarms blared. Soon I was going to have lots of company and I had to keep moving.**

**"Hey, crabby." I inched around the edge of the courtyard. "I'm just gonna scoot around you so–"**

"Like I just said, your luck would never let that happen. Ever."

"Jeez, Wise Girl, thanks for making me feel like such a lucky person."

**The crab moved with amazing speed. It scuttled out of the fountain and came straight at me, pincers snapping. I dove into a gift shop, plowing through a rack if T-shirts. A crab pincer smashed the glass walls to pieces and raked across the room. I dashed back outside, breathing heavily, but Mr. Crabby turned and followed.**

Several people caught their breath.

**"There!" a voice said from a balcony about me. "Intruder!"**

**If I'd wanted to create a distraction, I'd succeeded, but this was not where I wanted to fight. If I got pinned down in the center of the ship, I was crab chow.**

"Crab chow. Really."

**The demonic crustacean **

"Demonic crustacean," Thalia snickered. "Some neutral ground there, Death Breath, Kelp Head?"

"Nah, just big words – for Percy, anyway," Nico said, laughing.

"You guys are jerks," Percy complained.

**lunged at me. I sliced with Riptide, taking off the tip of its claw. It hissed and foamed, but didn't seem very hurt.**

**I tried to remember anything from the old stories that might help with this thing. Annabeth had told me about a monster crab – something about Hercules crushing it under his big foot? That wasn't going to work here. This crab was slightly bigger than my Reeboks.**

"Just a little," Leo chuckled.

**Then a weird thought occurred to me. Last Christmas, my mom and I had brought Paul Blofis to our old cabin at Montauk, where we'd been going forever. Paul had taken me crabbing, and when he'd brought up a net full of the things, he'd shown me how crabs have a chink in their armor, right in the middle of their ugly bellies. **

**The only problem was getting to the ugly belly.**

Paul felt a burst of joy at being able to help his stepson, even if it was unintentional.

**I glanced at the fountain, then at the marble floor, already slick from scuttling crab tracks. I held out my hand, concentrating on the water, and the fountain exploded. Water sprayed everywhere, three stories high, dousing the balconies and the elevators and the windows of the shops. The crab didn't care. It loved water.**

"So… The point of doing that was…?"

"You'll see."

**It came at me sideways, snapping and hissing and I ran straight at it, screaming, "AHHHHHHH!"**

"What kind of battle cry is that?" James scoffed.

Percy grinned. "An epic one, just like peanut butter!"

Those who didn't get the inside joke were just confused, while the ones who did were laughing their heads off and agreeing.

**Just before we collided, I hit the ground baseball-style and slid on the wet marble floor straight under the creature. It was like sliding under a seven-ton armored vehicle. All the crab had to do was sit and squash me, but before it realized what I was going on, I jabbed Riptide into the chink in its armor, let go of the hilt, and pushed myself out the backside.**

"Great," Gwen said, startling most people. The Romans had been so quiet, almost everyone had forgotten about them. "Except you just lost your weapon."

"Or did I?" Percy asked mysteriously, tossing his pen up and down. Then, he threw it into the far side of the room, much to Gwen's confusion.

**The monster shuddered and hissed. Its eyes dissolved. Its shell turned bright red as its insides evaporated. The empty shell clattered to the floor in a massive heap.**

"Woo-hoo! Point for Perce!" one of Percy's school friends cheered.

**I didn't have time to admire my handiwork. I ran for the nearest stairs while all around me monsters and demigods shouted orders and strapped on their weapons. I was empty-handed. Riptide, being magic, would appear in my pocket sooner or later, but for now it was stuck somewhere under the wreckage of the crab, and I had no time to retrieve it.**

"Oh. Huh. Useful."

"But that's not possible," several of the teachers and some students protested. Percy grinned.

"In our world? Almost anything can happen. Give it a minute."

**In the elevator foyer on deck eight, a couple of _dracaenae_ slithered across my path. From the waist up, they were woman with green scaly skin, yellow eyes, and forked tongues. From the waist down, they had double snake trunks instead of legs. They held spears and weighted nets, and I knew from experience they could use them.**

"Good to know."

**"What isss thisss?" one said. "A prize for Kronosss!"**

"Never!" Percy shouted defiantly, striking a half-dramatic pose. Half, because he was still sitting on the ground. Some people laughed at his immaturity. Annabeth just rolled her eyes, watching as the Stolls gave him a high-five.

"Seaweed Brain."

**I wasn't in the mood to play break-the-snake, but in front of me was a stand with a model of the ship, like a YOU ARE HERE display. I ripped the model off the pedestal and hurled it at the first _dracaena_. The boat smacked her in the face and she went down with the ship. **

"I see what you did there. Very punny."

"I try."

"Please, don't."

**I jumped over her, grabbed her friend's spear, and swung her around. She slammed into the elevator, and I kept running toward the front of the ship.**

**"Get him!" she screamed.**

**Hellhounds bayed. An arrow from somewhere whizzed past my face and impaled itself in the mahogany-paneled wall of the stairwell.**

One of the girls snickered, unable to help herself despite the serious situation. "That is mahogany!" she whispered to herself, referring to the Hunger Games movie. Some nearby people heard her and laughed.

**I didn't care – as long as I got the monsters away from the engine room and gave Beckendorf more time.**

"Your stupid fatal flaw," Annabeth sighed.

**As I was running up the stairwell, a kid charged down.**

**He looked like he'd just woken up from a nap. His armor was half on. He drew his sword and yelled, "Kronos!" but he sounded more scared than angry. He couldn't have been more than twelve – about the same age I was when I'd first arrived at Camp Half-Blood. **

**That thought depressed me. This kid was getting brain-washed – trained to hate the gods and lash out because he'd been born half Olympian. Kronos was using him, and yet the kid thought I was his enemy.**

The teachers were even more horrified, if possible. They'd forgotten to consider the kids on the other side as well. They wondered just how many kids were killed in this not-so-mythical war.

**No way was I going to hurt him. **

"Good," one of the teachers breathed.

**I didn't need a weapon for this. I stepped inside his strike and grabbed his wrist, slamming it against the wall. His sword clattered out of his hand.**

**Then I did something I hadn't planned on. It was probably stupid. It definitely jeopardized our mission, but I couldn't help it.**

_If I hadn't done that, would Beckendorf still be alive?_

Percy shoved the though out of his head, but it clung stubbornly to the edges of his consciousness. Guilt flooded through him.

**"If you want to live," I told him, "get off this ship _now_. Tell the other demigods." Then I shoved him down the stairs and sent him tumbling to the next door.**

"Why'd you do that?" someone asked. "He's an enemy, isn't he?" Percy sighed, ignoring the question.

Annabeth repeated, "Your stupid fatal flaw." Nobody really knew what it meant. Some adults knew what a fatal flaw was, but didn't understand how the concept applied to the story.

**I kept climbing.**

**Bad memories: a hallway ran past the cafeteria. Annabeth, my half brother Tyson, and I had sneaked through here three years ago on my first visit.**

"Tyson?" some asked, but the people from Camp Half-Blood smiled.

"Yup, my Cyclops half-brother," Percy announced proudly. "He's the general of the Cyclops army, now."

Octavian muttered about how Greeks housed _monsters_, like Mrs. O'Leary the hellhound and Tyson the Cyclops.

Jason, Frank, and Hazel cast him a glare.

**I burst outside onto the main deck. Off the port bow, the sky was darkening from purple to black. A swimming pool glowed between two glass towers with more balconies and restaurant decks. The whole upper ship seemed eerily deserted.**

**All I had to do was cross to the other side. Then I could take the staircase down to the helipad – our emergency rendezvous point. With any luck, Beckendorf would meet me there. We'd jump into the sea. My water powers would protect us both, and we'd detonate the charges from a quarter mile away.**

Percy wondered how he'd been so naïve as to think everything would go perfectly, just like that.

**I was halfway across the deck when the sound of a voice made me freeze. "You're late, Percy."**

**Luke stood on the balcony above me, a smile on his scarred face. He wore jeans, a white T-shirt, and flip-flops, like he was just a normal college-age guy, but his eyes told the truth. They were solid gold.**

**"We've been expecting you for days." At first he sounded normal, like Luke. But then his face twitched. A shudder passed through his body as though he'd just drunk something really nasty. His voice became heavier, ancient, and powerful – the voice of the Titan lord Kronos.**

"He _hosted_ a Titan lord?!" several gasped in horror. Of course! How had he risen out of that pit otherwise? It wasn't like they could glue the pieces of Kronos back together. _Okay, never mind, bad mental image._

**The words scraped down my spine like a knife blade. "Come, bow before me."**

**"Yeah, that'll happen," I muttered.**

"If you did, I would kill you, because you'd be an imposter," Thalia said matter-of-factly, examining one of her arrows.

"Good thing I didn't, then." Percy eyed the arrows warily.

**Laistrygonian giants filed in on either side of the swimming pool as if they'd been waiting for a cue. Each was eight feet tall with tattooed arms, leather armor, and spiked clubs. Demigod archers appeared on the roof above Luke. Two hellhounds leaped down from the opposite balcony and snarled at me. Within seconds I was surrounded. A trap: there's no way they could've gotten into position so face unless they'd known I was coming.**

"How had he known?" one of the smarter ones mouthed to herself, thinking.

**I looked up at Luke, and anger boiled inside me. I didn't know if Luke's consciousness was even still alive inside that body. Maybe, the way his voice had changed… or maybe it was just Kronos adapting to his new form. I told myself it didn't matter. Luke had been twisted and evil long before Kronos possessed him. **

**A voice in my head said: _I have to fight him eventually. Why not now?_**

"Stop looking at me like that, Annabeth. I know it was stupid."

**According to that big prophecy, I was suppose to make a choice that saved or destroyed the world when I was sixteen. That was only seven days away. Why not now? If I really had the power, what difference would a week make?**

"A lot," Percy laughed uneasily, trying to forget about what would soon happen, even though it was inevitable.

**I could end this threat right here by taking down Kronos. Hey, I'd fought monsters and gods before.**

"Gods?" someone asked.

"Yeah, Ares. Another one in this book, too."

"He defeated Ares when he was only twelve," Nico added smugly, a little proud of his cousin, not that he would ever admit it. "And had little to no training."

Everyone looked amazed, and Percy blushed.

**As if reading my thoughts, Luke smiled. No, he was _Kronos_. I had to remember that.**

**"Come forward," he said. "If you dare."**

**The crowd of monsters parted. I moved up the stairs, my heart pounding. I was sure somebody would stab me in the back, but they let me pass. I felt my pocket and found my pen waiting. I uncapped it, and Riptide grew into a sword.**

Percy pulled Riptide out and showed everyone. "See? Magic."

"It's like a boomerang, only not," Travis laughed. "It always comes back, but never hits you on the head."

Some people, confused by his attempt at explaining, just stared at him.

**Kronos's weapon appeared in his hands – a six-foot-long scythe, a half Celestial bronze, half mortal steel. Just looking at it made my knees turn to Jell-O. But before I could change my mind, I charged. Time slowed down. I mean _literally_ slowed down, because Kronos had that power. **

"Unfair!" the Greek demigods yelled.

**I felt like I was moving through syrup. My arms were so heavy, I could barely raise my sword. Kronos smiled, swirling his scythe at normal speed and waiting for me to creep toward my death.**

"You survived this?" a student asked, tensing in his spot. "How?"

"Despite his unluckiness with running into the worst monsters ever…"

"He's extremely lucky in fighting them," Thalia finished Annabeth's statement. Nico thought for a moment.

"He's also a child of the Big Three," he added. "So he's stronger than the average demigod."

"Like I said before; _skills,_" Percy grinned.

**I tried to fight his magic. I concentrated on the sea around me – the source of my power. I'd gotten better at channeling it over the year, but now nothing seemed to happen.**

**I took another slow step forward. Giants jeered. _Dracaenae_ hissed with laughter.**

**_Hey, ocean,_ I pleaded. _Any day would be good._ **

"Yes, please!" some teachers muttered.

**Suddenly there was a wrenching pain in my gut. The entire boat lurched sideways, throwing monsters off their feet. Four thousand gallons of salt water surged out of the swimming pool, dousing me and Kronos and everyone on the deck. The water revitalized me, breaking the time spell, and I lunged forward.**

The Romans and people from Goode were shocked, but the Romans more so, because they knew just how strong the titan's power was.

Meanwhile, the other demigods were cheering.

**I struck at Kronos, but I was still too slow. I made the mistake of looking at his face – _Luke's face_ – a guy who was once my friend. As much as I hated him, it was hard to kill him.**

Annabeth knew how he felt.

**Kronos had no such hesitation. He sliced downward with his scythe. I leaped back, and the evil blade missed by an inch, cutting a gash in the deck right between my feet.**

The demigods had stopped cheering and had also begun to worry. Percy, on the other hand, had closed his eyes and tried to shut everything out.

**I kicked Kronos in the chest. He stumbled backward, but he was heavier than Luke should've been. It was like kicking a refrigerator.**

"Or a vending machine," Leo suggested. "Like, kicking a vending machine when it eats up your money and doesn't give anything back!"

"Leo," Piper sighed.

**Kronos swung his scythe again. I intercepted with Riptide, but his strike was so powerful, my blade could only deflect it. The edge of the scythe shaved off my shirtsleeve and grazed my arm. It shouldn't have been a serious cut, but the entire side of my body exploded with pain. I remembered what a sea demon had once said about Kronos's scythe: _Careful, fool. One touch, and the blade will sever your soul from your body._ Now I understood what he meant. I wasn't just losing blood. I could feel my strength, my will, my identity draining away.**

The tension increased.

**I stumbled backward, switched my sword to my left hand, and lunged desperately. My blade should've run him through, but it deflected off his stomach like I was hitting solid marble. There was no way he should've survived that.**

"How?" everyone asked, but they received no answer.

**Kronos laughed. "A poor performance, Percy Jackson. Luke tells me you were never his match at swordplay."**

"No, he was better!" Nico murmured.

**My vision started to blur. I knew I didn't have much time.**

**"Luke had a big head," I said. "But at least it was _his_ head."**

"Nice," Connor grinned, though it was a little forced.

**"A shame to kill you now," Kronos mused, "before the final plan unfolds. I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I will destroy Olympus."**

**"You'll never get this boat to Manhattan." My arm was throbbing. Black spots danced in my vision.**

People sucked in a tense breath and held it.

**"And why would that be?" Kronos's golden eyes glittered. His face – Luke's face – seemed like a mask, unnatural and lit from behind by some evil power. "Perhaps you are counting on your friend with the explosives?"**

Percy started forcibly regulating his breaths, preparing himself for what was to come. Annabeth rubbed his back soothingly. Everyone else's hearts dropped.

**He looked down at the pool and called, "Nakamura!" A teenage guy in full Greek armor pushed through the crowd. His left eye was covered with a black patch. I knew him, of course: Ethan Nakamura, the son of Nemesis. I'd saved his life in the Labyrinth last summer, and in return, the little punk had helped Kronos come back to life.**

Several people started cursing him.

**"Success, my lord," Ethan called. "We found him just as we were told."**

**He clapped his hands, and two giants lumbered forward, dragging Charles Beckendorf between them. My heart almost stopped. Beckendorf had a swollen eye and cuts all over his face and arms. His armor was gone and his shirt was nearly torn off.**

"No!" the students cried.

**"No!" I yelled.**

**Beckendorf met my eyes. He glanced at his hand like he was trying to tell me something. _His watch._ They hadn't taken it yet, and that was the detonator. Was it possible the explosives were armed?**

**Surely the monsters would've dismantled them right away.**

"Maybe," a teacher said, praying that they were somehow still active.

**"We found him amidships," one of the giants said, "trying to sneak to the engine room. Can we eat him now?"**

"Never!"

**"Soon." Kronos scowled at Ethan. "Are you sure he didn't set the explosives?"**

**"He was going _toward_ the engine room, my lord."**

**"How do you know that?"**

**"Er . . ." Ethan shifted uncomfortably. "He was heading in that direction. And he told us. His bag is still full of explosives." **

**Slowly, I began to understand. Beckendorf had fooled them. When he'd realized he was going to be captured, he turned to make it look like he was going the other way. He'd convinced them he hadn't made it to the engine room yet. The Greek fire might still be primed!**

Relief flooded through the room. Nobody spoke, wanting to know what happened as soon as possible.

**But that didn't do us any good unless we could get off the ship and detonate it.**

**Kronos hesitated.**

**_Buy the story,_ I prayed. The pain in my arm was so bad now I could barely stand.**

Several people had to look again to check and see that Percy was still alive and breathing in front of them.

**"Open his bag," Kronos ordered. **

**One of the giants ripped the explosives satchel from Beckendorf's shoulders. He peered inside, grunted, and turned it upside down. Panicked monsters surged backward. If the bag really had been full of Greek fire jars, we would've all blown up. But what fell out were a dozen cans of peaches.**

Some nervous chuckles.

**I could hear Kronos breathing, trying to control his anger.**

**"Did you, perhaps," he said, "capture this demigod near the galley?"**

**Ethan turned pale. "Um–"**

**"And did you, perhaps, send someone to actually CHECK THE ENGINE ROOM?"**

**Ethan scrambled back in terror, then turned on his heels and ran.**

**I cursed silently. Now we had only minutes before the bombs were disarmed. I caught Beckendorf's eyes again and asked a silent question, hoping he would understand: _How long?_**

**He cupped his fingers and thumb, making a circle. _Zero._ There was no delay on the timer at all. If he managed to press the detonator button, the ship would blow at once. We'd never be able to get far enough away before using it. The monsters would kill us first, or disarm the explosives, or both.**

"So pessimistic," Travis sighed, trying to lighten the atmosphere a little.

**Kronos turned toward me with a crooked smile. "You'll have to excuse my incompetent help, Percy Jackson. But it doesn't matter. We have you now. We've known you were coming for weeks." **

**He held out his hand and dangled a little silver bracelet with a scythe charm – the Titan lord's symbol.**

"Oh no," a clever classmate muttered, piecing it together.

**The wound in my arm was sapping my ability to think, but I muttered, "Communication device… spy at camp."**

A series of curses flew from the students.

So engrossed in the book, the adults didn't reprimand them at all.

The Greek demigods – the older ones, in any case – did not curse the spy, as they knew who she was and they'd forgiven her long ago.

**Kronos chuckled. "You can't count on friends. They will always let you down. Luke learned that lesson the hard way. Now drop your sword and surrender to me, or your friend dies."**

**I swallowed. One of the giants had his hand around Beckendorf's neck. I was in no shape to rescue him, and even if I tried, he would die before I got there. We both would.**

**Beckendorf mouthed one word: _Go._**

**I shook my head. I couldn't just leave him.**

"Loyalty," Annabeth said. She shifted and realized that Percy wasn't just leaning against her, but had fallen asleep. She guessed he had a good reason. After all, he was tired and already knew what was going to happen.

_So do I._ She closed her eyes and relaxed against him, slipping quietly into the realm of Morpheus. Only Thalia noticed.

**The second giant was still rummaging through the peach cans, which meant Beckendorf's left arm was free. He raised it slowly – toward the watch on his right wrist. **

**I wanted to scream, _NO!_**

Leo made a strangled sound, eyes wide.

**Then down by the swimming pool, one of the _dracaenae_ hissed, "What isss he doing? What isss that on hisss wrissst?" **

**Beckendorf closed eyes tight and brought his hand up to his watch.**

**I had no choice. I threw my sword like a javelin at Kronos. It bounced harmlessly off his chest, but it did startle him. I pushed through a crowd of monsters and jumped off the side of the ship – toward the water a hundred feet below. **

**I heard rumbling deep in the ship. Monsters yelled at me from above. A spear sailed past my ear. An arrow pierced my thigh, but I barely had time to register the pain. I plunged into the sea and willed the currents to take me far, far away – a hundred yards, two hundred yards.**

**Even from that distance, the explosion shook the world. Heat seared the back of my head. The _Princess Andromeda_ blew up from both sides, a massive fireball of green flame roiling into the dark sky, consuming everything.**

**Beckendorf, I thought.**

Some had tears in their eyes and running down their cheeks.

**Then I blacked out and sank like an anchor toward the bottom of the sea.**

Paul put down the book for a moment to compose himself. The Greek campers had heavy hearts, recalling moments of the past. Most of them had realized that reading this book would be worse than they expected, because of all the deaths…

Annabeth had fallen asleep, as did Percy. Thalia moved to wake them up, but Nico leaned over and whispered a couple tense words into her ear. She stopped, looked at the two, and settled back down.

Paul took a deep breath and picked the book up again.

"Chapter two, I Meet Some Fishy Relatives."

* * *

**DragonAce1999: Yeah... This took a while. Jeez! Never really knew how long those chapters were until now. Again, I'm just going to say that this story is not as polished as my other ones because it's a "when-I-have-free-time-or-no-motivation-for-anythi ng-else" type thing.**

**Special thanks to the reviewers of my last chapter: emblah01, jasmine352, Rachel. .10, blueice2449, HAZEL DAUGHTER OF HADES, horse-crazy girl13, Guest, THEBATMANIMPOSTER, WeasleyatHeart99, Guest, and Luckout22.**

**By the way, I have no clue what's going on. I keep on fixing the mistakes in this Author's Note, but when I save and look over it again, it's the same as it was before... So, sorry to the reviewers whose names were written down wrong... For some reason it won't save correctly.**

**EDIT: Added some more Roman input, though they still don't speak much. Also fixed a lot of mistypes. **

* * *

Published: 5/9/13  
Updated: 7/11/13


	3. I Meet Some Fishy Relatives

**Title: **A Demigod's Tale**  
Status: **In Progress**  
Fanfiction Type: **Percy Jackson "Reading the Books" Fic**  
Beta: **None**  
Expected Update Rate: **Uncommon; once a month or less.**  
Words per Chapter Goal: **A chapter per chapter.**  
Rating: **T, for safety.**  
Pairings: **Percabeth with touches of other pairings; Frank/Hazel, Jasper, Tratie, etc. No Thalico.**  
Point of View: **Third Person**  
Plot Plans: **Reading "The Last Olympian"**  
Expected At Full Length: **Entire "The Last Olympian"

* * *

**_. : A DEMIGOD'S TALE : ._**

_A Percy Jackson Fanfiction_

_Chapter Two: I Meet Some Fishy Relatives_

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson in any way, shape, or form.

* * *

**Demigod dreams suck.**

"Agreed!" the demigods chorused. Even the Romans had no trouble agreeing with their Greek counterparts on this one.

**The thing is, they're never just _dreams._ They've got to be visions, omens, and all that other mystical stuff that makes my brain hurt.**

"So," Thalia deducted, "in other words, all the other 'mystical stuff' that makes you think?" She glanced at Percy, and remembered that he was still asleep.

**I dreamed I was in a dark palace at the top of a mountain. Unfortunately, I recognized it: the palace of the Titans on top of Mount Othrys, otherwise known as Mount Tamalpais, in California.**

"Seriously?" one of the students groaned. "I was going to go there for summer break this year!"

Another student cried, "I _did_ go there for summer break that year!"

**The main pavilion was open to the night, ringed with black Greek columns and statues of the Titans. Torchlight glowed against the black marble floor. In the center of the room, an armored giant struggled under the weight of a swirling funnel cloud – Atlas, holding up the sky.**

Percy, even in his sleep, twitched at the mention of Atlas and the sky. He lay sideways on the ground, arms wrapped around Annabeth protectively. A few girls cooed adoringly at the sight.

**Two other giant men stood nearby over a bronze brazier, studying images in the flames. "Quite an explosion," one said. He wore black armor studded with silver dots like a starry night. His face was covered in a war helm with a ram's horn curling on either side.**

Jason sat up. "I fought him," he said, almost to himself.

**"It doesn't matter," the other said. This Titan was dressed in gold robes, with golden eyes like Kronos. His entire body glowed. He reminded me of Apollo, God of the Sun, except the Titan's light was harsher, and his expression crueler.**

"Apollo wouldn't like that comparison," Connor said, smiling a little.

**"The gods have answered the challenge. Soon they will be destroyed."**

"You wish!" the demigods yelled quietly, as not to wake the sleeping couple.

**The images in the fire were hard to make out: storms, buildings crumbling, mortals screaming in terror.**

Said mortals glanced at each other. Now, they would get to know what had _really_ happened during that time.

Some didn't really want to.

**"I will go east to marshal our forces," the golden Titan said. "Krios, you shall remain and guard Mount Othrys."**

**The ram horn dude grunted. "I always get the stupid jobs. Lord of the South. Lord of Constellations. Now I get to babysit Atlas while _you_ have all the fun."**

Daniel, the infamous class clown of Goode, laughed a little. "Who knew Titans complained about little things that like?" he inquired when people gave him strange looks.

**Under the whirlwind of clouds, Atlas bellowed in agony, "Let me out, curse you! I am your greatest warrior. Take my burden so I may fight!"**

"That's true," one of Percy's classmates said. "He _was_ the strongest of them. So why isn't he fighting?"

**"Quiet!" the golden Titan roared. "You had your chance, Atlas. You failed. Kronos likes you just where you are. As for you, Krios, do your duty."**

"Already had his chance?" the classmate asked. She noticed that Thalia had glanced at the two sleeping demigods. "Wait, what-"

"Long story short," Nico interrupted, "Atlas got someone else to hold it for him, who got Annabeth to hold it for him, and then Lady Artemis took it, and then Percy took it from her. Then, Artemis kicked Atlas's butt back under the sky, freeing Percy, happily ever after, the end."

"Not really the end," Thalia corrected. "But yeah. The sky was so heavy, it almost crushed Percy and Annabeth. That's why you can see those grey streaks on Annabeth's hair. Percy used to have them, but…"

The people from Goode could only imagine how heavy the sky must've been. James personally thought that the demigods were wimps who relied on powers, so of course they would suck when it came to physical strength – like holding up the sky, for example.

As if she knew what he was thinking, Piper gave him a fierce glare.

**"And if you need more warriors?" Krios asked. "Our treacherous nephew in the tuxedo will not do you much good in a fight."**

"Who's the nephew?" someone asked.

"You'll see."

He frowned. He _knew_ that answer was going to be popping up a lot.

**The golden Titan laughed. "Don't worry about him. Besides, the gods can barely handle our first little challenge. They have no idea how many others we have in store. Mark my words, in a few days' time, Olympus will be in ruins, and we will meet here again to celebrate the dawn of the Sixth Age!"**

"You wish!"

**The golden Titan erupted into flames and disappeared.**

**"Oh, sure," Krios grumbled. "He gets to erupt into flames. I get to wear these stupid ram's horns."**

"Like I said," Daniel laughed. "Titans complain about such little things!" Many people agreed, chuckling.

**The scene shifted. Now I was outside the pavilion, hiding in the shadows of a Greek column. A boy stood next to me, eavesdropping on the Titans. He had dark silky hair, pale skin, and dark clothes – my friend Nico di Angelo, the son of Hades.**

Everyone looked at Nico, who waved a little. Octavian muttered something like, _Ambassador of Pluto, my _podex_! Traitor, Greek…_ Reyna elbowed him into silence, while Jason, Frank, Hazel – surprisingly, Gwen, too – glared.

**He looked straight at me, his expression grim. "You see, Percy?" he whispered. "You're running out of time. Do you really think you can beat them without my plan?"**

"What plan?" everyone wondered.

Nico pointedly ignored the questioning glances tossed his way.

**His words washed over me as cold as the ocean floor, and my dreams went black.**

"Ominous," a teacher muttered.

"He compares _everything_ to the ocean, doesn't he?" Travis said, glancing at the slumbering son of Poseidon.

**"Percy?" a deep voice said.**

**My head felt like it had been microwaved in aluminum foil.**

"That would-"

"-be totally awesome!" the Stolls said, finishing Piper's sentence. Leo agreed whole-heartedly, giving the brothers a high five.

Piper rolled her eyes. "I was going to say 'painful', but okay."

**I opened my eyes and saw a large shadowy figure looming over me.**

**"Beckendorf?" I asked hopefully.**

**"No, brother."**

**My eyes refocused. I was looking at a Cyclops – a misshapen face, ratty brown hair, one big brown eye full of concern. "Tyson?" My brother broke into a toothy grin. "Yay! Your brain works!"**

"Are you sure?" Travis stole a little hammer from Leo's belt – ignoring his indignant "Hey!" – and pretended to do some sort of surgery on Percy's head.

When he stirred a little, Thalia grabbed his arm.

"Travis, let them sleep," she whispered. "They were just pulled out of T-Tartarus." She stumbled a little on the last world.

The son of Hermes jerked upright, shock settling over his features.

**I wasn't so sure. My body felt weightless and cold. My voice sounded wrong. I could hear Tyson, but it was more like I was hearing vibrations inside my skull, not the regular sounds. **

**I sat up, and a gossamer sheet floated away. I was on a bed made of silky woven kelp, in a room paneled with abalone shell. Glowing pearls the size of basketballs floated around the ceiling, providing light. I was under water.**

"No, you're floating in space," James said with vicious sarcasm. Thalia and Nico fixed him with glares, at which he cowered back. Those two could really be scary when they wanted to. Especially when they were feeling protective.

**Now, being the son of Poseidon and all, I was okay with this. I can breathe underwater just fine, and my clothes don't even get wet unless I want them to. **

"Lucky!"

**But it was still a bit of a shock when a hammerhead shark drifted through the bedroom window, regarded me, and then swam calmly out the opposite side of the room.**

"Awesome," Leo grinned. Several others agreed.

**"Where–"**

**"Daddy's palace," Tyson said.**

**Under different circumstances, I would've been excited. I'd never visited Poseidon's realm, and I'd been dreaming about it for years. But my head hurt. My shirt was still speckled with burn marks from the explosion. My arm and leg wounds had healed – just being in the ocean can do that for me, given enough time – but I still felt like I'd been trampled by a Laistrygonian soccer team in cleats.**

Daniel snorted. "Nice description."

**"How long–"**

**"We found you last night," Tyson said, "sinking through the water."**

**"The _Princess Andromeda_?"**

**"Went ka-boom," Tyson confirmed.**

"I love that guy," Leo sighed. "Great with metalworking, and funny, too!"

**"Beckendorf was on board. Did you find…" **

**Tyson's face darkened. "No sign of him. I am sorry, brother." **

**I stared out the window into deep blue water. Beckendorf was supposed to go to college in the fall. He had a girlfriend, lots of friends, his whole life ahead of him. He couldn't be _gone_. Maybe he'd made it off the ship like I had. Maybe he'd jumped over the side… and what? He couldn't have survived a hundred-foot fall into the water like I could. He couldn't have put enough distance between himself and the explosion.**

A moment of silence ensued for the son of Hephaestus. Leo's demeanor darkened a little as he wished that he'd been able to meet Beckendorf.

**I knew in my gut he was dead. He'd sacrificed himself to take out the _Princess Andromeda_, and I had abandoned him. **

"No, you didn't," Nico protested. Thalia nodded.

**I thought about my dream: the Titans discussing the explosion as if it didn't matter, Nico di Angelo warning me that I would never beat Kronos without following his plan – a dangerous idea I'd been avoiding for more than a year.**

"This suspense is going to kill us!" a student moaned.

**A distant blast shook the room. Green light blazed outside, turning the whole sea as bright as noon.**

**"What was that?" I asked.**

**Tyson looked worried. "Daddy will explain. Come, he is blowing up monsters."**

Nobody really knew how to react to that sentence. It sounded strange, like, _Come hither, for your father is blowing up monsters!_

The very though of such a line made Daniel snicker, which he quickly covered up before anyone could notice.

**The palace might have been the most amazing place I'd ever seen if it hadn't been in the process of getting destroyed. We swam to the end of a long hallway and shot upward on a geyser. As we rose over the rooftops I caught my breath – well, if you can catch your breath underwater.**

"Can you?"

"I dunno, ask Percy when he wakes up."

**The palace was as big as the city on Mount Olympus, with wide courtyards, gardens, and columned pavilions. The gardens were sculpted with coral colonies and glowing sea plants. Twenty or thirty buildings were made of abalone, white but gleaming with rainbow colors. Fish and octopi darted in and out of the windows. The paths were lined with glowing pearls like Christmas lights.**

"That's so pretty!" a girl exclaimed, picturing the palace.

**The main courtyard was filled with warriors – mermen with fish tails from the waist down and human bodies from the waist up, except their skin was blue, which I'd never known before. Some were tending the wounded. Some were sharpening spears and swords. One passed us, swimming in a hurry. His eyes were bright green, like that stuff they put in glo-sticks, and his teeth were shark teeth. They don't show you stuff like that in _The Little Mermaid._**

"If they did, all the little children would be scarred for life," Nico said, though he didn't sound all too sad about it.

One of Goode's teachers, the marine biology professor, perked up at the mention of mermaids. He knew that he wouldn't be able to tell anyone else about what he learned from reading The Last Olympian, as they'd think he was crazy, but it was still interesting. To him, anyway.

**Outside the main courtyard stood large fortifications – towers, walls, and antisiege weapons – but most of these had been smashed to ruins. Others were blazing with a strange green light that I knew well – Greek fire, which can burn even underwater.**

Some teachers wondered how that worked.

**Beyond this, the sea floor stretched into gloom. I could see battles raging – flashes of energy, explosions, the glint of armies clashing. A regular human would've found it too dark to see. Heck, a regular human would've been crushed by the pressure and frozen by the cold.**

"True," the marine biology teacher said.

**Even my heat-sensitive eyes couldn't make out exactly what was going on.**

**At the edge of the palace complex, a temple with a red coral roof exploded, sending fire and debris streaming in slow motion across the farthest gardens. Out of the darkness above, an enormous form appeared – a squid larger than any skyscraper.**

"We miss out on so much," the teacher whispered to himself. What he'd give to be able to study marine life like that…! If they were tame, of course.

**It was surrounded by a glittering cloud of dust – at least I thought it was dust, until I realized it was a swarm of mermen trying to attack the monster. The squid descended on the palace and swatted its tentacles, smashing a whole column of warriors. Then a brilliant arc of blue light shot from the rooftop of one of the tallest buildings. The light hit the giant squid, and the monster dissolved like food coloring in water.**

"Wow. Powerful."

"Well, duh. He's Poseidon."

**"Daddy," Tyson said, pointing to where the light had come from.**

**"_He_ did that?" I suddenly felt more hopeful. My dad had unbelievable powers. He was the god of the sea. He could deal with this attack, right? Maybe he'd let me help.**

Some of the teachers hoped he didn't. They weren't ready just yet to accept the fact that young demigods fought for their lives all the time.

"Good thing he didn't," Thalia murmured. "We needed him on land."

**"Have you been in the fight?" I asked Tyson in awe. "Like bashing heads with your awesome Cyclops strength and stuff?" **

**Tyson pouted, and immediately I knew I'd asked a bad question. "I have been… fixing weapons," he mumbled. "Come. Let's go find Daddy."**

"It's so weird, hearing someone call the sea god 'Daddy'," someone commented.

**I know this might sound weird to people with, like, regular parents, **

"No such thing," a classmate chuckled.

"Well, normal compared to demigod standards," Bobby said. It was the first time he'd spoken up since the introductions.

**but I'd only seen my dad four or five times in my life, and never for more than a few minutes. The Greek gods don't exactly show up for their kids' basketball games. Still, I thought I would recognize Poseidon on sight.**

**I was wrong.**

The mortals wondered what the god looked like.

**The roof of the temple was a big open deck that had been set up as a command center. A mosaic on the floor showed an exact map of the palace grounds and the surrounding ocean, but the mosaic moved. Colored stone tiles representing different armies and sea monsters shifted around as the forces changed position. Buildings that collapsed in real life also collapsed in the picture. **

**Standing around the mosaic, grimly studying the battle, was a strange assortment of warriors, but none of them looked like my dad. I was searching for a big guy with a good tan and a black beard, wearing Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt.**

"Seriously?" a teacher gaped. He – along with most others – expected the god to dress, well, god-like. Togas and other ancient Greek styled clothing, not modern clothes. The demigods shrugged.

"Yeah. It's a ton more comfortable than wearing something like a toga," Nico said, remembering his time at Camp Jupiter. Jason agreed, smiling faintly.

"Kelp Head," Thalia glanced at the sleeping son of Poseidon. "Why in Hades would a god wear that in a _war_?"

"Consistency?" Nico suggested.

"How does that even apply?"

"Dunno."

**There was nobody like that. One guy was a merman with two fish tails instead of one. His skin was green, his armor studded with pearls. His black hair was tied in a ponytail, and he looked young – though it's hard to tell with non-humans. They could be a thousand years old or three. Standing next to him was an old man with a bushy white beard and gray hair. His battle armor seemed to weigh him down. He had green eyes and smile wrinkles around his eyes, but he wasn't smiling now. He was studying the map and leaning on a large metal staff. To his right stood a beautiful woman in green armor with flowing black hair and strange little horns like crab claws. And there was a dolphin – just a regular dolphin, but it was staring at the map intently.**

"Probably not just a regular dolphin," someone commented.

**"Delphin," the old man said. "Send Palaemon and his legion of sharks to the western front. We have to neutralize those leviathans." The dolphin spoke in a chattering voice, but I could understand it in my mind: _Yes, lord!_ It sped away.**

"Dolphins are sea creatures, and Percy got fishy powers from his father, god of the seas, so he can speak with them," Thalia explained before anyone could ask as to how Percy could understand the dolphin.

**I looked in dismay at Tyson, then back at the old man.**

**It didn't seem possible, but… "Dad?" I asked. The old man looked up. I recognized the twinkle in his eyes, but his face… he looked like he'd aged forty years.**

"Gods can control their age?" a student asked curiously.

Someone sitting close by rolled her eyes. "Well, they're immortal _gods_, so I'm not all that surprised. They're all-powerful."

"Not exactly, but close enough," Piper sighed.

**"Hello, Percy."**

**"What – what happened to you?"**

"How polite."

"That's Percy for you. Doesn't show respect to anyone, not even the gods. Unless you earn it, of course," Thalia added.

**Tyson nudged me. He was shaking his head so hard I was afraid it would fall off, but Poseidon didn't look offended.**

"Of course not. He of all gods knows that Percy is super rebellious," Nico chuckled. "I think he actually got it from him."

"Some of it came from his mom, though."

"Yeah, you're right. So he got _double_ the stubborn. That makes sense."

**"It's all right, Tyson," he said. "Percy, excuse my appearance. The war has been hard on me."**

**"But you're immortal," I said quietly. "You can look… any way you want."**

"True, but do you really think he'd be dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts during a war?"

"We already discussed this."

**"I reflect the state of my realm," he said. "And right now that state is quite grim. Percy, I should introduce you – I'm afraid you just missed my lieutenant Delphin, God of the Dolphins. This is my, er, wife, Amphitrite. My dear–"**

**The lady in green armor stared at me coldly, then crossed her arms and said, "Excuse me, my lord. I am needed in the battle." **

**She swam away.**

"Wow. Awkward."

"Yeah," Thalia grimaced. "Yet another downside to being half god. Meeting our parent's immortal wife or husband equals extreme awkwardness."

**I felt pretty awkward, but I guess I couldn't blame her. I'd never thought about it much, but my dad had an immortal wife. All his romances with mortals, including with my mom… well, Amphitrite probably didn't like that much.**

"Persephone hates me," Nico complained. "Turned me into a _flower_."

Thalia tsked. "Should've kept you like that."

**Poseidon cleared his throat. "Yes, well… and this is my son Triton. Er, my _other_ son."**

"Immortal half siblings are sometimes worse, sometimes better."

**"Your son and heir," the green dude corrected. **

"Green dude? Wow. That would probably piss him off."

"That's old news, Percy pisses off almost every single immortal he meets."

**His double fish tails swished back and forth. He smiled at me, but there was no friendliness in his eyes. "Hello, Perseus Jackson. Come to help at last?"**

**He acted like I was late or lazy. If you can blush underwater, I probably did.**

"Don't really see why you can't…"

**"Tell me what to do," I said.**

**Triton smiled like that was a cute suggestion – like I was a slightly amusing dog that had barked for him or something. **

Some people wrinkled their noses at the comparison.

**He turned to Poseidon. "I will see to the front line, Father. Don't worry. _I _will not fail."**

**He nodded politely to Tyson. How come I didn't get that much respect? Then he shot off into the water.**

**Poseidon sighed. He raised his staff, and it changed into his regular weapon – a huge three-pointed trident. The tip glowed with blue light, and the water around it boiled with energy.**

"Water conducts electricity, so the master bolt is better," Thalia pointed out. Nico rolled his eyes.

"The earth can absorb electricity, and the underground is Hades's domain."

**"I'm sorry about that," he told me.**

**A huge sea serpent appeared from above us and spiraled down toward the roof. It was bright orange with a fanged mouth big enough to swallow a gymnasium.**

The students flinched, remembering that _this_ was why being a demigod would suck. They couldn't bear to think of standing up to a monster.

Except James, of course, who still believed that the half-bloods were just too weak to beat the monsters. Although the size of that serpent startled him a little.

**Hardly looking up, Poseidon pointed his trident at the beast and zapped it with blue energy. _Ka-boom!_ The monster burst into a million goldfish, which all swam off in terror.**

Some started to cheer a little for Poseidon, but were quickly hushed by the demigods on the Greek side. The news of Annabeth and Percy's fall to Tartarus had been passed around them, and none of them wanted to disturb the couple's rest. For all they knew, after the book was finished, they might be returned to the pit of hell, so it would be best to let them rest as much as possible.

It wasn't like they didn't know what would happen in the book, anyway.

**"My family is anxious," Poseidon continued as if nothing had happened. "The battle against Oceanus is going poorly." He pointed to the edge of the mosaic. With the butt of his trident he tapped the image of a merman larger than the rest, with the horns of a bull. He appeared to be riding a chariot pulled by crawfish, and instead of a sword he wielded a live serpent.**

"If you killed the serpent, would it disintegrate like other monsters?" Piper asked. Nobody knew the answer to that question.

**"Oceanus," I said, trying to remember. "The Titan of the sea?" Poseidon nodded. "He was neutral in the first war of gods and Titans. But Kronos has convinced him to fight. This is… well, it's not a good sign. Oceanus would not commit unless he was sure he could pick the winning side."**

"Hehe. Look how that ended up!" Travis snickered.

**"He looks stupid," I said, trying to sound upbeat. "I mean, who fights with a snake?"**

"I really hope he doesn't mean George and Martha," Connor mused. "Those two are awesome!"

"Who are George and Martha?" Ryan asked.

"You'll see," Piper cut in before the Stolls could speak.

**"Daddy will tie it in knots," Tyson said firmly.**

"Yes he will!"

**Poseidon smiled, but he looked weary. "I appreciate your faith. We have been at war almost a year now. My powers are taxed. And still he finds new forces to throw at me – sea monsters so ancient I had forgotten about them."**

"I guess that's what sucks about immortality. You get so old, you start losing your memory!" Leo laughed, trying to lighten up the atmosphere.

**I heard an explosion in the distance. About half a mile away, a mountain of coral disintegrated under the weight of two giant creatures. I could dimly make out their shapes. One was a lobster. The other was a giant humanoid like a Cyclops, but he was surrounded by a flurry of limbs. At first I thought he wearing a bunch of giant octopi.**

"Why would _anyone_ do that?"

"Squishy, inky protection?" Leo offered with a sarcastic grin.

**Then I realized they were his own arms – a hundred flailing, fighting arms.**

"Whoa!"

**"Briares!" I said.**

**I was happy to see him, but he looked like he was fighting for his life. He was the last of his kind – a Hundred-Handed One, cousin of the Cyclopes. We'd saved him from prison last summer, and I knew he'd come to help Poseidon, but I hadn't heard of him since.**

"What do you mean, the last of his kind?"

"Well, immortals can fade. I guess all of the Hundred-Handed Ones faded, except for Briares."

"You're right," Rachel nodded.

**"He fights well," Poseidon said. "I wish we had a whole army like him, but he is the only one."**

**I watched as Briares bellowed in rage and picked up the lobster, which thrashed and snapped its pincers. He threw it off the coral mountain, and the lobster disappeared into the darkness.**

"Go Briares!"

**Briares swam after it, his hundred arms spinning like the blades of a motorboat.**

**"Percy, we may not have much time," my dad said. "Tell me of your mission. Did you see Kronos?"**

**I told him everything, though my voice choked up when I explained about Beckendorf. I looked down at the courtyards below and saw hundreds of wounded mermen lying on makeshift cots. I saw rows of coral mounds that must've been hastily made graves. I realized Beckendorf wasn't the first death. He was only one of hundreds, maybe thousands. I'd never felt so angry and helpless.**

That was what finally convinced the last of the mortals that being a demigod was definitely _not_ something to wish for.

"That's so sad," someone said quietly.

The demigods avoided everyone's gazes, thinking about their own losses throughout the war.

**Poseidon stroked his beard. "Percy, Beckendorf chose a heroic death. You bear no blame for that. **

"It's going to take more than that to convince him," Nico sighed.

**Kronos's army will be in disarray. Many were destroyed."**

"But not all of them. Darn it!"

**"But we didn't kill him, did we?"**

**As I said it, I knew it was a naïve hope. We might blow up his ship and disintegrate his monsters, but a Titan lord wouldn't be so easy to kill.**

"Sadly."

**"No," Poseidon admitted. "But you've bought our side some time."**

"Wasn't Kronos the Titan of time?"

"Yeah…"

**"There were demigods on that ship," I said, thinking of the kid I'd seen in the stairwell. Somehow I'd allowed myself to concentrate on the monsters and Kronos. I'd convinced myself that destroying their ship was all right because they were evil, they were sailing to attack my city, and besides, they couldn't really be permanently killed. Monsters just vaporized and re-formed eventually. But demigods…**

Once again, the half-blood avoided the mortals' gazes.

"They may be half god," Rachel said, attracting everyone's attention, "but in the end, they're still just humans… like the rest of us."

"Yeah, but we're just generally more awesome," Travis added, forcing a grin. Daniel caught on and pretended to be offended.

"No, _we're_ more awesome!"

"You wish!" The Stoll brothers gave Daniel a real smile, which he returned. They had a mutual feeling that they would get along great.

**Poseidon put his hand on my shoulder. "Percy, there were only a few demigod warriors aboard that ship, and they all chose to battle for Kronos. Perhaps some heeded your warning and escaped. If they did not… they chose their path."**

"Well, yeah, but…" The mood plummeted again.

**"They were brainwashed!" I said. "Now they're dead and Kronos is still alive. That's supposed to make me feel better?" I glared at the mosaic – little tile explosions destroying tile monsters. It seemed so easy when it was just a picture. Tyson put his arm around me. If anybody else had tried that, I would've pushed him away, but Tyson was too big and stubborn. He hugged me whether I wanted it or not.**

Some of the girls cooed at that.

**"Not your fault, brother. Kronos does not explode good. Next time we will use a big stick."**

"A big stick. To defeat a Titan."

"Well, to be fair, I nailed him with a hairbrush, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. True."

**"Percy," my father said. "Beckendorf's sacrifice wasn't in vain. You have scattered the invasion force. New York will be safe for a time, which frees the other Olympians to deal with the bigger threat."**

Everyone tensed.

**"The bigger threat?" I thought about what the golden Titan had said in my dream: _The gods have answered the challenge. Soon they will be destroyed._**

"Yeah, right!"

**A shadow passed over my father's face. "You've had enough sorrow for one day. Ask Chiron when you return to camp."**

**"Return to camp? But you're in trouble here. I want to help!"**

**"You can't, Percy. Your job is elsewhere."**

"You don't have a job!"

"Oh, shut it, Repair Boy," Piper groaned. Leo found himself unable to speak, which made him cross his arms and pout like a little boy.

**I couldn't believe I was hearing this. I looked at Tyson for backup.**

**My brother chewed his lip. "Daddy… Percy can fight with a sword. He is good."**

"The best in three hundred years," Thalia and Nico chorused proudly.

Reyna blinked, but decided she shouldn't have been surprised.

**"I know that," Poseidon said gently.**

**"Dad, I can help," I said. "I know I can. You're not going to hold out here much longer."**

**A fireball launched into the sky from behind the enemy lines. I thought Poseidon would deflect it or something, but it landed on the outer corner of the yard and exploded, sending mermen tumbling through the water. Poseidon winced as if he'd just been stabbed.**

Some winced as well, recalling that Poseidon had said something about the state of his realm affecting him. "Not everything can be deflected," one of the teachers reasoned quietly to himself. It didn't make him feel any better, though.

**"Return to camp," he insisted. "And tell Chiron it is time."**

**"For what?"**

**"You must hear the prophecy. The _entire_ prophecy." I didn't need to ask him which prophecy. I'd been hearing about the "Great Prophecy" for years, but nobody would ever tell me the whole thing. All I knew was that I was supposed to make a decision that would decide the fate of the world – but no pressure.**

Thalia sighed. She was glad that the prophecy wasn't about her, but she wouldn't wish it on anybody, especially not Percy. The poor son of Poseidon had too much in his life already.

Falling to Tartarus took the cake, though. Thalia shivered.

**"What if _this_ is the decision?" I said. "Staying here to fight, or leaving? What if I leave and you…" **

**I couldn't say _die_. Gods weren't supposed to die, but I'd seen it happen. Even if they didn't die, they could be reduced to nearly nothing, exiled, imprisoned in the depths of Tartarus like Kronos had been.**

"Like I said, they can fade."

"Yeah, Pan faded," Nico added nonchalantly. "Percy and I were there. Annabeth, Rachel, Grover, and Tyson, too."

"What?" the mortals gasped.

"Pan's the god of the wild," Rachel said, sadly. "I think… Maybe, part of the reason why he faded was because of the pollution and development of areas that were meant to stay as forests. Maybe."

Everyone exchanged guilty looks.

**"Percy, you must go," Poseidon insisted. "I don't know what your final decision will be, but your fight lies in the world above. If nothing else, you must warn your friends at camp. Kronos knew your plans. You have a spy. We will hold here. We have no choice." **

**Tyson gripped my hand desperately. "I will miss you, brother!" Watching us, our father seemed to age another ten years.**

The Romans were silent as usual, but felt a little jealous. The gods never interacted with them as much as they did with the Greeks.

**"Tyson, you have work to do as well, my son. They need you in the armory."**

**Tyson pouted some more.**

**"I will go," he sniffled. He hugged me so hard he almost cracked my ribs. "Percy, be careful! Do not let monsters kill you dead!"**

"So they can kill him alive?" Travis ducked a smack from Rachel.

**I tried to nod confidently, but it was too much for the big guy. He sobbed and swam away toward the armory, where his cousins were fixing spears and swords.**

**"You should let him fight," I told my father. "He hates being stuck in the armory. Can't you tell?"**

**Poseidon shook his head. "It is bad enough I must send you into danger. Tyson is too young. I must protect him."**

This time, jealously appeared through the Greek side as well, but they all pushed the feeling back. If anyone deserved a loving father, it was Percy.

**"You should trust him," I said. "Not try to protect him." **

**Poseidon's eyes flared. I thought I'd gone too far, but then he looked down at the mosaic and his shoulders sagged. On the tiles, the mermaid guy in the crawfish chariot was coming closer to the palace.**

**"Oceanus approaches," my father said. "I must meet him in battle." **

**I'd never been scared for a god before, but I didn't see how my dad could face this Titan and win.**

The tension skyrocketed.

**"I will hold," Poseidon promised. "I will not give up my domain. Just tell me, Percy, do you still have the birthday gift I gave you last summer?"**

**I nodded and pulled out my camp necklace. It had a bead for every summer I'd been at Camp Half-Blood, but since last year I'd also kept a sand dollar on the cord. My father had given it to me for my fifteenth birthday. He'd told me I would know when to "spend it," but so far I hadn't figured out what he meant. All I knew was that it didn't fit the vending machines in the school cafeteria.**

"Only you, Kelp Head," Thalia laughed.

**"The time is coming," he promised. "With luck, I will see you for your birthday next week, and we will have a proper celebration." **

**He smiled, and for a moment I saw the old light in his eyes. **

**Then the entire sea grew dark in front of us, like an inky storm was rolling in. Thunder crackled, which should've been impossible underwater. A huge icy presence was approaching. I sensed a wave of fear roll through the armies below us.**

Paul's voice faltered a little, but he quickly regained his composure. He knew that the demigods would win, but…

"This is outrageous!" one of the teachers hissed angrily. "Children, fighting for their lives, in wars!"

The demigods shrugged. It was normal for them, now.

**"I must assume my true godly form," Poseidon said. "Go – and good luck, my son."**

**I wanted to encourage him, to hug him or something, but knew better than to stick around. When a god assumes his true form, the power is so great that any mortal looking on him will disintegrate.**

"Whoa. That's cool."

"A hug would only take a second," someone else commented.

**"Good-bye, Father," I managed.**

**Then I turned away. I willed the ocean currents to aid me. Water swirled around me, and I shot toward the surface at speeds that would've caused any normal human to pop like a balloon. **

"Wow. Fast."

**When I looked back, all I could see were flashes of green and blue as my father fought the Titan, and the sea itself was torn apart by the two armies.**

Paul paused before turning the page. He scanned the top for a moment before paling. He had to remind himself that his stepson was living and breathing in front of him before he read on. "Chapter three, I Get A Sneak Peak At My Death."

The tension did not dissipate at those words.

* * *

**DragonAce1999: Here's chapter three for you all! I don't think there was enough Roman input, but we know so little about the Romans sans Hazel, Frank, and Jason, it's kind of hard to-**

**Oh my gods, I completely forgot about those three! ...or did I? Arg, I can't remember, and I don't feel like scrolling through pages of text just to see... Oh, well. I promise more Romans talking in the future. And some of you have asked me about adding gods! Well, I'm thinking about sending two gods in later, when Octavian gets the guts to try something stupid like assassinating Percy or something.**

**Special thanks to my reviewers of last chapter: devo342, Rosie daughter of percabeth, RTRfootball, Laureleaf3, Hermosa Reina Beautiful Queen, Guest, SometingMoreCreative, LovePercabeth4eva, TalkingFish, giggles11228, THEBATMANIMPOSTER, annabeth lopez, TimeLadyofTARDIS, WeasleyatHeart99, DIONSAURGIRLZ, greekfreak101, and I Am Nymphadora Tonks.**

**Thanks again for reading, please review!**

**EDIT: Added some more Roman input, edited some mistakes in transcribing.**

* * *

Published: 5/17/13  
Updated: 7/12/13


	4. I Get a Sneak Peak at My Death

**Title: **A Demigod's Tale**  
Status: **In Progress**  
Fanfiction Type: **Percy Jackson "Reading the Books" Fic**  
Beta: **None**  
Expected Update Rate: **Uncommon; once a month or less.**  
Words per Chapter Goal: **A chapter per chapter.**  
Rating: **T, for safety.**  
Pairings: **Percabeth with touches of other pairings; Frank/Hazel, Jasper, Tratie, etc. No Thalico.**  
Point of View: **Third Person**  
Plot Plans: **Reading "The Last Olympian"**  
Expected At Full Length: **Entire "The Last Olympian"

* * *

**_. : A DEMIGOD'S TALE : ._**

_A Percy Jackson Fanfiction_

_Chapter Three: I Get a Sneak Peak at My Death_

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson in any way, shape, or form.

* * *

**If you want to be popular at Camp Half-Blood, don't come back from a mission with bad news.**

"There's a slight duh right there," Piper smiled.

**Word of my arrival spread as soon as I walked out of the ocean. Our beach is on the North Shore of Long Island, and it's enchanted so most people can't even see it.**

"You have to be an epic demigod," Leo grinned.

Daniel gave him a look. "Psh, no such thing."

"Dude, we are the _definition_ of epic."

"You wish!"

Everyone chuckled at the exchange, glad to have something to break the remaining tension from last chapter. Leo and Daniel were having a mock stare-off, while the Stoll brothers cheered Leo on. Paul rolled his eyes and continued reading.

**People don't just _appear_ on the beach unless they're demigods or gods or really, really lost pizza delivery guys. (It's happened – but that's another story.)**

"What happened?" Daniel asked, still staring at Leo.

"We happened!" the Stolls announced, grinning mischievously.

"Long story short, yes, _they_ happened," Nico confirmed. "Perce told me this story, once. You guys prank called the pizza place, right?" They nodded.

**Anyway, that afternoon the lookout on duty was Connor Stoll from the Hermes cabin. **

Connor waved with extravagant enthusiasm.

**When he spotted me, he got so excited he fell out of his tree.**

Everyone laughed, even Travis. Connor pretended to glare at his half brother, blushing slightly and muttering "traitor" under his breath.

**Then he blew the conch horn to signal the camp and ran to greet me.**

**Connor had a crooked smile that matched his crooked sense of humor. He's a pretty nice guy, but you should always keep one hand on your wallet when he's around, and do not, under any circumstances, give him access to shaving cream unless you want to find your sleeping bag full of it.**

Daniel grinned. He and Leo had come to a truce, ceasing their stare-off and deeming each other 'epic' in the process. The Stolls didn't sound bad either, and Daniel decided to be friends with them as well.

**He's got curly brown hair and is a little shorter than his brother, Travis, which is the only way I can tell them apart. **

"What? There's a huge difference! I'm way better!" they simultaneously protested. Everyone laughed at their antics.

**They are both so unlike my old enemy Luke it's hard to believe they're all sons of Hermes.**

Almost instantly, the mood darkened.

**"Percy!" he yelled. "What happened? Where's Beckendorf?" **

**Then he saw my expression, and his smile melted. "Oh, no. Poor Silena. Holy Zeus, when she finds out…"**

The people from Goode looked down at the reminder, while the Greek and Roman demigods alike seemed to be in a slight daze as they had a small reminiscence of the past.

**Together we climbed the sand dunes. A few hundred yards away, people were already streaming toward us, smiling and excited. _Percy's back,_ they were probably thinking. _He's saved the day! Maybe he brought souvenirs!_**

Some tittered uneasily, unable to bring themselves to actually laugh. Not so soon after the mention of an honorable demigod's death.

**I stopped at the dining pavilion and waited for them. No sense rushing down there to tell them what a loser I was.**

"Not a loser," a classmate murmured softly, but in the quiet room, she was easily heard. Others agreed wholeheartedly.

James, however, completely disagreed, and ranted so – in his mind. There was no way he'd say that out loud. Especially as Thalia was still within hearing range. He wasn't _that_ stupid, no matter what others thought.

**I gazed across the valley and tried to remember how Camp Half-Blood looked the first time I ever saw it. That seemed like a bajillion years ago.**

"Not a word, Kelp Head. But yeah, I know what you mean." The Huntress closed her eyes for a moment.

**From the dining pavilion, you could see pretty much everything. Hills ringed the valley. On the tallest, Half-Blood Hill, Thalia's pine tree stood with the Golden Fleece hanging from its branches, magically protecting the camp from its enemies.**

Thalia gave a weary smile at the mention of her tree. A teacher spoke up.

"The _actual_ Golden Fleece?" he asked, curious.

"Yup," Thalia confirmed. "I got poisoned when I was a tree – don't ask, it's a long story – so Percy and a few others went on a quest to get the Fleece to heal me. It actually managed to get me out of the tree too, which why I can be here right now."

"There's a lot more to that, isn't there?" the teacher deadpanned, much to Thalia's amusement as she nodded in confirmation.

**The guard dragon Peleus was so big now I could see him from here – curled around the tree trunk, lending up smoke signals as he snored.**

"You guys have a dragon? That's so cool!" a young student exclaimed, bouncing slightly in his seat. "Does that mean phoenixes are real, too?"

"I'm actually not too sure," Thalia admitted. "I've never seen one. I'll ask Artemis, later."

**To my right spread the woods. To my left, the canoe lake glittered and the climbing wall glowed from the lava pouring down its side.**

"Sounds like a great place," someone said. "Besides for the lava part, anyway."

The demigods from Camp Half-Blood grinned and nodded.

"It's really a beautiful place," Piper agreed.

**Twelve cabins – one for each Olympian god – made a horseshoe pattern around the commons area. **

Jason, Leo, and Piper looked confused. "Wait a minute, I thought there were more than just twelve cabins," the son of Zeus said.

"Shush," Nico whispered. "This is before we built those other cabins."

Hazel and Frank exchanged glances. "So _that's_ why Percy asked if we were divided by godly parent," Hazel murmured.

**Farther south were the strawberry fields, the armory, and the four-story Big House with its sky blue paint job and its bronze eagle weathervane.**

"Yeah, I still can't believe you guys call it the Big House," Jason chuckled. "No imagination."

Nico and Thalia shrugged. "Not our fault," Thalia told her brother. "We didn't name it. Whoever did probably just looked at it and said, 'Oh, that's a big house,' and I guess the name just stuck."

**In some ways, the camp hadn't changed. But you couldn't see the war by looking at the buildings or the fields. You could see it in the faces of the demigods and satyrs and naiads coming up the hill. **

Piper thought about the slightly sad atmosphere Camp Half-Blood had while Percy was missing. She pictured it in the middle of a war and grimaced slightly, deciding that she never wanted to see the camp like that.

Most of the demigods on the Roman side could empathize. Camp Jupiter had gone though war as well, although since it was a military-like camp anyway, the effect wasn't there was much. But it was still there.

**There weren't as many at camp as four summers ago. Some had left and never come back. Some had died fighting. Others – we tried not to talk about them – had gone over to the enemy.**

The demigods, Greek and Roman alike, flinched. Both of them had friends who defected from their side. Octavian believed that more Greeks did than Romans, though.

**The ones who were still here were battle-hardened and weary. There was little laughter at camp these days. Even the Hermes cabin didn't play so many pranks. It's hard to enjoy practical jokes when your whole life feels like one.**

"Dude," Daniel hissed, nudging the Stolls. "You should've pulled out all the stops! Make everyone laugh again, looks like at this point, they kinda needed it."

The Stolls looked at each other and nodded slowly. "Yeah, we probably should've," Connor sighed. "But the entire feel of the camp was really depressing, and it just spread to us, I guess."

**Chiron galloped into the pavilion first, which was easy for him since he's a white stallion from the waist down.**

"Since you have the _actual_ Golden Fleece, I shouldn't be surprise by this," a teacher sighed. "But I still am. He's the Chiron from the myths, right?"

"Yup!" Leo grinned.

**His beard had grown wilder over the summer. He wore a green T-shirt that said MY OTHER CAR IS A CENTAUR and a bow slung over his back.**

Daniel snorted.

**"Percy!" he said. "Thank the gods. But where…" **

**Annabeth ran in right behind him, and I'll admit my heart did a little relay race in my chest when I saw her.**

Thalia and Nico just laughed. "Clueless," Nico gasped through his mirth.

**It's not that she tried to look good. We'd been doing so many combat missions lately, she hardly brushed her curly blond hair anymore, and she didn't care what clothes she was wearing – usually the same old orange camp T-shirt and jeans, and once in a while her bronze armor.**

Reyna sighed. Orange camp T-shirts, purple camp T-shirts. Was there really so much of a difference? The Fates were right (well, no surprise there), Camp Jupiter's attack on Camp Half-Blood was unneeded and unimportant. They should focus on Gaea instead.

**Her eyes were stormy gray. Most of the time we couldn't get through a conversation without trying to strangle each other.**

"And now look at them," Piper smiled softly, glancing back at the sleeping couple.

**Still, just seeing her made me feel fuzzy in the head. Last summer, before Luke had turned into Kronos and everything went sour, there had been a few times when I thought maybe… well, that we might get past the strangle-each-other phase.**

A series of "aww"s went around the room.

**"What happened?" She grabbed my arm. "Is Luke–"**

**"The ship blew up," I said. "He wasn't destroyed. I don't know where–"**

**Silena Beauregard pushed through the crowd. Her hair wasn't combed and she wasn't even wearing makeup, which wasn't like her.**

Piper's fists tightened.

**"Where's Charlie?" she demanded, looking around like he might be hiding.**

Thalia sighed and covered her eyes with a hand. Yes, she was a huntress, an eternal maiden sworn off men, but that didn't mean she didn't sympathize. And Silena's fate…

**I glanced at Chiron helplessly.**

**The old centaur cleared his throat. "Silena, my dear, let's talk about this at the Big House–"**

**"No," she muttered. "No. _No._"**

**She started to cry, and the rest of us stood around, too stunned to speak. We'd already lost so many people over the summer, but this was the worst. With Beckendorf gone, it felt like someone had stolen the anchor for the entire camp.**

The mood saddened, and Percy shifted in his sleep, as if he could feel the darkening atmosphere.

**Finally Clarisse from the Ares cabin came forward. She put her arm around Silena. They had one of the strangest friendships ever – a daughter of the war god and a daughter of the love goddess – but ever since Silena had given Clarisse advice last summer about her first boyfriend, Clarisse had decided she was Silena's personal bodyguard.**

A few chuckles echoed across the room, but that was all.

**Clarisse was dressed in her bloodred combat armor, her brown hair tucked into a bandana. She was as big and beefy as a rugby player, with a permanent scowl on her face, but she spoke gently to Silena.**

"Well, that's a strange combo," a student observed, though he sounded more depressed than amused.

**"Come on, girl," she said. "Let's get to the Big House. I'll make you some hot chocolate."**

"Chocolate makes everything better," Daniel said, trying to lighten up the room.

**Everyone turned and wandered off in twos and threes, heading back to the cabins. Nobody was excited to see me now. Nobody wanted to hear about the blown-up ship.**

Suddenly, Thalia leaned over to Nico and whispered, "Good thing Perce's asleep. If he heard this, he'd beat himself up for it again."

"Yeah…" Nico forced a grin. "But Annabeth would've smacked him and gotten him to stop."

Thalia hummed.

**Only Annabeth and Chiron stayed behind.**

**Annabeth wiped a tear from her cheek. "I'm glad you're not dead, Seaweed Brain."**

"We're _all_ glad about that," one of Percy's classmates proclaimed.

**"Thanks," I said. "Me too."**

"Even him!" Leo added with a smile. Several students chuckled, breaking the mood, and everyone felt a little better.

**Chiron put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sure you did everything you could, Percy. Will you tell us what happened?"**

**I didn't want to go through it again, but I told them the story, including my dream about the Titans. I left out the detail about Nico. Nico had made me promise not to tell anybody about his plan until I made up my mind, and the plan was so scary I didn't mind keeping it a secret.**

"What was it?" Bobby, a legacy from Camp Jupiter, asked.

"Like before, not telling!" the son of Hades answered gleefully, relishing in the fact he knew something the others didn't.

**Chiron gazed down at the valley. "We must call a war council immediately, to discuss this spy, and other matters."**

**"Poseidon mentioned another threat," I said. "Something even bigger than the _Princess Andromeda_. I thought it might be that challenge the Titan had mentioned in my dream."**

"The challenge that Titan said something about the gods barely being able deal with or something like that?" a younger kid asked nervously.

"It _was_ pretty severe," Thalia admitted. "The book will probably explain soon."

**Chiron and Annabeth exchanged looks, like they knew something I didn't. I hated when they did that.**

"He's not the only one, I hate it when they do that, too," the Stolls and Leo complained.

"I think we'd all hate it," a student chuckled.

**"We will discuss that also," Chiron promised.**

**"One more thing." I took a deep breath. "When I talked to my father, he said to tell you it's time. I need to know the full prophecy." **

**Chiron's shoulders sagged, but he didn't look surprised. "I've dreaded this day. Very well. Annabeth, we will show Percy the truth – all of it. Let's go to the attic."**

"The attic?" someone inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"It'll be explained."

**I'd been to the Big House attic three times before, which was three times more than I wanted to.**

Rachel smirked. "Good thing I'm not there, then."

"Oh," a teacher realized, picking up on the implication. "The Oracle used to be up there?"

"Yeah. Long story, you'll see."

**A ladder led up from the top of the staircase. I wondered how Chiron was going to get up there, being half horse and all, but he didn't try.**

"That would be pretty hard," Daniel said with a smile.

**"You know where it is," he told Annabeth. "Bring it down, please." **

**Annabeth nodded. "Come on, Percy."**

**The sun was setting outside, so the attic was even darker and creepier than usual. Old hero trophies were slacked everywhere – dented shields, pickled heads in jars from various monsters, a pair of fuzzy dice on a bronze plaque that read: STOLEN FROM CHRYSAOR'S HONDA CIVIC, BY GUS, SON OF HERMES, 1988.**

"One of the best sons of Hermes ever," Travis added.

Connor grinned. "Yeah, that guy could steal _anything_. He was awesome at stuff like that."

"Your idol?" Thalia inquired drily. At their nods, she sighed and said, "Figured as much. Surprised you haven't stolen anything so far, actually – wait, don't tell me, you actually _have_ taken something."

"We have no idea what you're talking about," the Stolls replied instantly, hiding their hands behind their backs as they donned identical masks of innocence on their faces.

**I picked up a curved bronze sword so badly bent it looked like the letter _M_. I could still see green stains on the metal from the magical poison that used to cover it. The tag was dated last summer. It read: _Scimitar of Kampê, destroyed in the Battle of the Labyrinth._**

"Last summer?" a girl from Goode repeated incredulously.

Nico nodded, recalling the times. "Well, not _last_ summer anymore, but yeah." He glanced to the side. "One of the major battles in this war. As a result, Daedalus and lots of others died and the Labyrinth collapsed, but… It wasn't a victory for the Titans, at least."

"Daedalus?"

"Long story short, he used mechanical bodies to stay alive."

**"You remember Briares throwing those boulders?" I asked. **

**Annabeth gave me a grudging smile. "And Grover causing a Panic?"**

"I thought that was a power of Pan," Dakota said, frowning. As his father's Greek form was close with the fauns – satyrs, actually – he knew of the god of the Wild.

"It is," Nico confirmed. "Grover invoked it… Pan blessed him, so it's not all that surprising."

**We locked eyes. I thought of a different time last summer, under Mount St. Helens, when Annabeth thought I was going to die and she kissed me.**

Cue the adorable coos, directed at the still unconscious duo.

**She cleared her throat and looked away. "Prophecy."**

**"Right." I put down the scimitar. "Prophecy." **

**We walked over to the window. On a three-legged stool sat the Oracle – a shriveled female mummy in a tie-dyed dress. **

"Not me, the previous Oracle," Rachel said when some people gave her looks.

**Tufts of black hair clung to her skull. Glassy eyes stared out of her leathery face. Just looking at her made my skin crawl.**

"Yuck. Good thing you're not like that," a student remarked, relatively disgusted.

"Well, I'm not dead, so I sure hope not."

"The Oracle was dead?"

"Long story involving curses and death. It'll probably be explained later."

Octavian overheard and huffed indignantly. The _Roman_ way, with auguries and _sacrifices,_ was much better, in his opinion.

Jason, as if he'd read the auger's mind, murmured something about how _"Roman"_ stuffed animals were, to his friends' amusement.

**If you wanted to leave camp during the summer, it used to be you had to come up here to get a quest. This summer, that rule had been tossed. Campers left all the time on combat missions. We had no choice if we wanted to stop Kronos.**

"Talk about a stressful, busy summer," someone commented.

"Yeah, it's called 'Summer Break' for a reason, you know," another agreed.

"Not for us demigods…" Connor paused, but his brother picked up where he'd left off.

"During the war, at least. Otherwise, it's usually pretty fun–"

"Especially in the Hermes Cabin!" Connor claimed enthusiastically, accidentally interrupting Travis, though it didn't look like the interrupted son of Hermes cared.

**Still, I remembered too well the strange green mist – the spirit of the Oracle – that lived inside the mummy. She looked lifeless now, but whenever she spoke a prophecy, she moved. Sometimes fog gushed out of her mouth and created strange shapes. Once, she'd even left the attic and taken a little zombie stroll into the woods to deliver a message.**

Rachel smirked eerily at the strange glances she received.

**I wasn't sure what she'd do for the "Great Prophecy." I half expected her to start tap dancing or something.**

"What. Just, what." The entire student, teacher, and Roman body seemed to be fazed by Percy's expectations.

"Don't question Kelp Head's thoughts. They just don't make sense," Thalia advised seriously, though her twitching lips gave her away.

**But she just sat there like she was dead – which she was.**

**"I never understood this," I whispered.**

**"What?" Annabeth asked.**

**"Why it's a mummy."**

**"Percy, she didn't used to be a mummy. For thousands of years the spirit of the Oracle lived inside a beautiful maiden. The spirit would be passed on from generation to generation. Chiron told me _she_ was like that fifty years ago." Annabeth pointed at the mummy. "But she was the last."**

"What happened?" a persistent student asked.

"Dude, how many times to we have to say 'you'll see' before it sinks in?"

**"What happened?"**

"See? Even Percy's curious!"

**Annabeth started to say something, then apparently changed her mind. "Let's just do our job and get out of here." **

**I looked nervously at the Oracle's withered face. "So what now?" **

**Annabeth approached the mummy and held out her palms. "O Oracle, the time is at hand. I ask for the Great Prophecy." **

**I braced myself, but the mummy didn't move. Instead, Annabeth approached and unclasped one of its necklaces. I'd never paid too much attention to its jewelry before. I figured it was just hippie love beads and stuff.**

"And stuff. Wow, Perce." Rachel shook her head in mock despair.

**But when Annabeth turned toward me, she was holding a leather pouch – like a Native American medicine pouch on a cord braided with feathers. She opened the bag and took out a roll of parchment no bigger than her pinky.**

**"No way," I said. "You mean all these years, I've been asking about this stupid prophecy, and it's been right there around her neck?"**

"If he'd been curious enough, he could've taken it whenever he wanted?" a teacher asked.

"Well, yeah, but would you _want_ to take some old jewelry off an old mummy that can spout green mist and talk at any time?"

Silence.

"That's what I thought," Thalia nodded.

**"The time wasn't right," Annabeth said. "Believe me, Percy, I read this when I was ten years old, and I still have nightmares about it."**

"Ominous," a teacher muttered.

**"Great," I said. "Can I read it now?"**

**"Downstairs at the war council," Annabeth said. "Not in front of… you know."**

Some people shivered.

**I looked at the glassy eyes of the Oracle, and I decided not to argue. We headed downstairs to join the others. I didn't know it then, but it would be the last time I ever visited the attic.**

"Oh, that's wonderful."

"Thalia, I can't tell whether you're being sarcastic or not."

"Both, Death Breath. Duh!"

**The senior counselors had gathered around the Ping-Pong table.**

"Did we miss something?" a kid asked in confusion.

"Nah," Piper laughed. "For whatever reason, we use the Ping-Pong table."

"There's probably a story behind it," Leo guessed.

The Stolls only grinned.

**Don't ask me why, but the rec room had become the camp's informal headquarters for war councils. **

"Emphasis on 'informal'," Bobby murmured, glancing at his Praetor, Reyna. There was nothing informal about _their_ "war councils", except for the occasional bouts of immaturity.

**When Annabeth, Chiron, and I came in, though, it looked more like a shouting match.**

**Clarisse was still in full battle gear. Her electric spear was strapped to her back.**

"A good choice in weapon," Thalia approved. Nico rolled his eyes.

**(Actually, her second electric spear, since I'd broken the first one. She called the spear "Maimer." Behind her back, everybody else called it "Lamer.")**

"Good thing she isn't here," Daniel snickered.

**She had her boar-shaped helmet under one arm and a knife at her belt.**

**She was in the midst of yelling at Michael Yew, the new head counselor for Apollo, which looked kind of funny since Clarisse was a foot taller. **

Half-stifled laughter spread through the listeners.

**Michael had taken over the Apollo cabin after Lee Fletcher died in battle last summer. **

The amusement died. Piper, Leo, and Jason suddenly stiffened, realizing that the current counselor of the Apollo demigods was _not_ named Michael, meaning…

**Michael stood four feet six, with another two feet of attitude. He reminded me of a ferret, with a pointy nose and scrunched-up features – either because he scowled so much or because he spent too much time looking down the shaft of an arrow.**

A couple people smiled at the comparison.

**"It's _our_ loot!" he yelled, standing on his tiptoes so he could get in Clarisse's face. "If you don't like it, you can kiss my quiver!"**

"What a wonderful… threat? What do you call that?" a classmate wondered.

Thalia shrugged. "Dunno. Now, shut up and _listen_."

**Around the table, people were trying not to laugh – the Stoll brothers, **

Said people waved cheerily.

**Pollux from the Dionysus cabin, Katie Gardner from Demeter. Even Jake Mason, the hastily appointed new counselor from Hephaestus, managed a faint smile.**

Leo sighed, uncharacteristically quiet.

** Only Silena Beauregard didn't pay any attention. She sat beside Clarisse and stared vacantly at the Ping-Pong net. Her eyes were red and puffy. A cup of hot chocolate sat untouched in front of her.**

"I feel really bad for her…" some people mused to themselves.

**It seemed unfair that she had to be here. I couldn't believe Clarisse and Michael standing over her, arguing about something as stupid as loot, when she'd just lost Beckendorf.**

"Yeah, I agree," nodded a student.

**"STOP IT!" I yelled. "What are you guys doing?" **

**Clarisse glowered at me. "Tell Michael not to be a selfish jerk."**

**"Oh, that's perfect, coming from you," Michael said.**

**"The only reason I'm here is to support Silena!" Clarisse shouted. "Otherwise I'd be back in my cabin."**

"Well, she has a heart, whadya know," Nico murmured, not unkindly.

**"What are you talking about?" I demanded.**

**Pollux cleared his throat. "Clarisse has refused to speak to any of us, until her, um, issue is resolved. She hasn't spoken for three days."**

**"It's been wonderful," Travis Stoll said wistfully.**

"What?" Travis asked when people turned to look at him. "If you knew her, you'd be happy, too!"

"Yeah, but this is the middle of the war," Thalia responded, rolling her eyes. "If you guys can't make decisions because she's refusing to speak, then you've got a serious issue on your hands."

**"What issue?" I asked.**

"That's the question," one of the adults muttered.

**Clarisse turned to Chiron. "You're in charge, right? Does my cabin get what we want or not?"**

"Notice how they ignored Perce," Nico chuckled.

**Chiron shuffled his hooves. "My dear, as I've already explained, Michael is correct. Apollo's cabin has the best claim. Besides, we have more important matters–"**

**"Sure," Clarisse snapped. "Always more important matters than what Ares needs. We're just supposed to show up and fight when you need us, and not complain!"**

"There's a point there, but it's pointing at the wrong time."

"That made no sense, Travis."

"Of course it didn't, Piper! Why else would I say it?"

The daughter of Aphrodite threw her hands up in an "I-give-up" gesture.

**"That would be nice," Connor Stoll muttered.**

"Probably not the best time to say that," Connor admitted meekly.

**Clarisse gripped her knife. "Maybe I should ask Mr. D–"**

"Mister who?"

"Mr. D, our camp director."

The Romans looked curious. Who ran the Greek camp? The Praetors ran theirs.

**"As you know," Chiron interrupted, his tone slightly angry now, "our director, Dionysus, is busy with the war. He can't be bothered with this."**

"No way!" Dakota exclaimed, jumping to his feet. He wasn't the only surprised one. In general, the Romans looked like they suddenly decided (of their own will, instead of the Fates') that invading the camp would _not_ be a good idea.

"Yes way!" Travis and Connor yelled back in the same manner, also getting up.

"He's pretty annoying," Nico sighed. "Can't get anyone's names right."

Meanwhile, the mortals exchanged shocked looks. A _god_ directed their camp?

"_Chiron_ got mad? Geez, that's like…" Leo trailed off.

"Yeah, he seems like he has endless patience," Piper agreed.

Jason shrugged. "Well, I guess even he has his limits."

**"I see," Clarisse said. "And the senior counselors? Are _any_ of you going to side with me?"**

**Nobody was smiling now. None of them met Clarisse's eyes.**

**"Fine." Clarisse turned to Silena. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get into this when you've just lost… Anyway, I apologize. To _you_. Nobody else."**

"Picky," Nico snorted.

**Silena didn't seem to register her words.**

**Clarisse threw her knife on the Ping-Pong table. "All of you can fight this war without Ares. Until I get satisfaction, no one in my cabin is lifting a finger to help. Have fun dying." **

"But isn't Ares the Greek side of Mars, the god of war? You'll need him to win the war, right? And his demigods should be excellent fighters," Bobby protested.

"Well, Athena is a goddess of war too, but yeah, it isn't the same," Thalia answered, glancing at Annabeth. "You'll see what happens."

**The counselors were all too stunned to say anything as Clarisse stormed out of the room.**

**Finally Michael Yew said, "Good riddance."**

"Not really," a student protested.

**"Are you kidding?" Katie Gardner protested. "This is a disaster!"**

"My point exactly!"

**"She can't be serious," Travis said. "Can she?" **

**Chiron sighed. "Her pride has been wounded. She'll calm down eventually." But he didn't sound convinced.**

**I wanted to ask what the heck Clarisse was so mad about, but I looked at Annabeth and she mouthed the words _I'll tell you later_.**

"You know, it should be something big, otherwise it really isn't worth it."

Travis and Connor winced. No, it really wasn't.

**"Now," Chiron continued, "if you please, counselors. Percy has brought something I think you should hear. Percy – the Great Prophecy."**

"Dramaticness."

"Not a word, Death Breath."

"Yeah, you'd know, with your dad being the god of drama, right, Pikachu?"

"_Pikachu?_ Oh, no you don't! Come back here, you demonic spawn of demons, I'm gonna run you through with my spear and–"

Paul cleared his throat uncomfortably.

**Annabeth handed me the parchment. It felt dry and old, and my fingers fumbled with the string. I uncurled the paper, trying not to rip it, and began to read:**

**_"A half-blood of the eldest dogs…"_**

"Say what?" several people asked, blinking.

**"Er, Percy?" Annabeth interrupted. "That's gods. Not dogs."**

"Alright, that makes more since."

"To be fair, he's dyslexic, so…" Piper trailed off.

**"Oh, right," I said. Being dyslexic is one mark of a demigod, but sometimes I really hate it. The more nervous I am, the worse my reading gets. "_A half-blood of the eldest gods… shall reach sixteen against all odds…_"**

"That's not too bad," James scoffed. "I don't see what you're all getting scared about."

"Wait 'till the end," Rachel answered tersely.

**I hesitated, staring at the next lines. A cold feeling started in my fingers as if the paper was freezing.**

**_"And see the world in endless sleep,_**

**_The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap."_**

Tense breaths were drawn. Someone would be dying. _Another victim of the war_. A couple classmates, once again, looked at Percy to ensure that he was actually there.

Travis and Connor frowned. They hated Luke, yes, but he was their blood family, and he had made the right choice in the end. The thought of their dead half-brother still pained them.

**Suddenly Riptide seemed heavier in my pocket. A cursed blade?**

**Chiron once told me Riptide had brought many people sorrow. Was it possible my own sword could get me killed? And how could the world fall into endless sleep, unless that meant death?**

Now people were looking at themselves, wondering how _that_ happened.

"Such pessimistic thoughts," Thalia sighed. "That's _your_ thing, Death Breath." Nico shrugged, the beginnings of a smile pulling at his lips.

**"Percy," Chiron urged. "Read the rest."**

"There's _more_?" someone groaned.

**My mouth felt like it was full of sand, but I spoke the last two lines.**

**_"A single choice shall… shall end his days. Olympus to per – pursue–"_**

**"_Preserve_," Annabeth said gently. "It means _to save_. "**

**"I know what it means," I grumbled. _"Olympus to preserve or raze."_**

"Wait, doesn't that mean that it doesn't matter what choice he makes, he'll still die?"

People sat back and thought about that for a moment, though the Greek demigods were thinking more along the lines of what would've happened if Luke didn't make that one choice in the end.

**The room was silent. Finally Connor Stoll said, "Raise is good, isn't it?"**

"Wrong word, bro."

"Shut up, Travis."

**"Not _raise_, "Silena said. Her voice was hollow, but I was startled to hear her speak at all. "R-a-z-e means _destroy_."**

**"Obliterate," Annabeth said. "Annihilate. Turn to rubble."**

"Whoa. Okay, then. Definitely _not_ good," mumbled a kid who hadn't known what "raze" meant.

**"Got it." My heart felt like lead. "Thanks." **

**Everybody was looking at me – with concern, or pity, or maybe a little fear.**

"Wait, why fear?" an adult inquired.

"Part of it was 'cause we didn't know if he'd make the right choice, honestly," Connor admitted quietly. "But not too much, because, well, Percy's usually pretty strong in the mental stubbornness area. Mostly, it was that we were afraid he was going to die."

**Chiron closed his eyes as if he were saying a prayer. In horse form, his head almost brushed the lights in the rec room. "You see now, Percy, why we thought it best not to tell you the whole prophecy. You've had enough on your shoulders–"**

**"Without realizing I was going to die in the end anyway?" I said. "Yeah, I get it."**

"Kinda harsh, but true. Not to mention depressing," said a student.

**Chiron gazed at me sadly. The guy was three thousand years old. He'd seen hundreds of heroes die. He might not like it, but he was used to it. He probably knew better than to try to reassure me.**

"Can you imagine the pain he has to go through, watching people die?" a teacher sighed.

"I guess Perce turned down immortality so that he didn't have to watch Annabeth die," Nico whispered to Thalia.

"Yeah, though part of that was because he just couldn't stand the thought of leaving her. Once, he thought she was going to join Artemis, and he was terrified," she whispered back.

**"Percy," Annabeth said. "You know prophecies always have double meanings. It might not literally mean you die."**

**"Sure," I said. "_A single choice shall end his days_. That has tons of meanings, right?"**

"It could be a giant metaphor," a student suggested. "Besides, it doesn't say who 'he' is."

**"Maybe we can stop it," Jake Mason offered. "_The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap._ Maybe we could find this cursed blade and destroy it. Sounds like Kronos's scythe, right?"**

"Possibly," someone nodded, but Rachel shook her head.

"You can't stop a prophecy."

**I hadn't thought about that, but it didn't matter if the cursed blade was Riptide or Kronos's scythe. Either way, I doubted we could stop the prophecy. A blade was supposed to reap my soul. As a general rule, I preferred not to have my soul reaped.**

"Just realized that he forced the entire prophecy onto himself. That part didn't apply to him."

"Wow, slow, much?" Connor murmured to his brother in a half-teasing way.

**"Perhaps we should let Percy think about these lines," Chiron said. "He needs time–"**

**"No." I folded up the prophecy and shoved it into my pocket. I felt defiant and angry, though I wasn't sure who I was angry with. "I don't need time. If I die, I die. I can't worry about that, right?"**

"Yeah, but…" Hazel groaned despairingly. "I didn't realize how much of a _pessimist_ he was!"

**Annabeth's hands were shaking a little. She wouldn't meet my eyes.**

**"Let's move on," I said. "We've got other problems. We've got a spy."**

**Michael Yew scowled. "A spy?"**

Several people scowled as well. "Yeah, not good news."

**I told them what had happened on the Princess Andromeda – how Kronos had known we were coming, how he'd shown me the silver scythe pendant he'd used to communicate with someone at camp. **

**Silena started to cry again, and Annabeth put an arm around her shoulders.**

The Greek demigods exchanged looks, just now realizing what she'd really been crying about.

**"Well," Connor Stoll said uncomfortably, "we've suspected there might a spy for years, right? Somebody kept passing information to Luke – like the location of the Golden Fleece a couple of years ago. It must be somebody who knew him well." **

**Maybe subconsciously, he glanced at Annabeth. She'd known Luke better than anyone, of course, but Connor looked away quickly.**

"Good thing she's still asleep," Thalia muttered to the son of Hermes. "She'd gut you for that."

"Sorry…"

**"Um, I mean, it could be anybody."**

**"Yes." Katie Gardner frowned at the Stoll brothers. She'd disliked them ever since they'd decorated the grass roof of the Demeter cabin with chocolate Easter bunnies.**

"I think that would actually look pretty nice…" Piper mumbled to herself.

**"Like one of Luke's siblings."**

Connor shifted uneasily. "Sure, he's our brother, but…"

"…we'd never, _ever_, betray the entire camp just for one person. Besides, we have other siblings, too," Travis finished.

**Travis and Connor both started arguing with her.**

**"Stop!" Silena banged the table so hard her hot chocolate spilled. "Charlie's dead and… and you're all arguing like little kids!" She put her head down and began to sob.**

"Poor, poor her," several teachers whispered.

**Hot chocolate trickled off the Ping-Pong table. Everybody looked ashamed.**

"We were," Connor admitted.

**"She's right," Pollux said at last. "Accusing each other doesn't help. We need to keep our eyes open for a silver necklace with a scythe charm. If Kronos had one, the spy probably does too." **

**Michael Yew grunted. "We need to find this spy before we plan our next operation. Blowing up the Princess Andromeda won't stop Kronos forever."**

"Sadly," Connor sighed.

**"No indeed," Chiron said. "In fact his next assault is already on the way."**

**I scowled. "You mean the 'bigger threat' Poseidon mentioned?" **

**He and Annabeth looked at each other like, It's time. Did I mention I hate it when they do that?**

"Yeah, you did," Daniel grinned.

**"Percy," Chiron said, "we didn't want to tell you until you returned to camp. You needed a break with your… mortal friends." **

**Annabeth blushed. It dawned on me that she knew I'd been hanging out with Rachel, and I felt guilty. Then I felt angry that I felt guilty. I was allowed to have friends outside camp, right? It wasn't like…**

A few people chuckled. _Sure, Perce. Keep telling yourself that._

**"Tell me what's happened," I said.**

**Chiron picked up a bronze goblet from the snack table. He tossed water onto the hot plate where we usually melted nacho cheese. Steam billowed up, making a rainbow in the fluorescent lights. Chiron fished a golden drachma out of his pouch, tossed it through the mist, and muttered, "O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, show us the threat."**

"Whoa. Wait so, if we through a dram- Um, a drachma," the student stumbled on the unfamiliar word, "through a rainbow, then Iris will show us whatever we want?"

"On the condition of being a demigod, of course."

"It's a tad more helpful than messenger eagles," Frank murmured to Reyna.

**The mist shimmered. I saw the familiar image of a smoldering volcano – Mount St. Helens. As I watched, the side of the mountain exploded. Fire, ash, and lava rolled out. A newscaster's voice was saying "–_even larger than last year's eruption, and geologists warn that the mountain may not be done_."**

A classmate blinked in recognition. "I heard about that…"

"We all did," said one of the students sitting beside him.

**I knew all about last year's eruption. I'd caused it.**

"He did _what?_"

"Long story. Tell you guys later, maybe," Nico said to Piper.

**But this explosion was much worse. The mountain tore itself apart, collapsing inward, and an enormous form rose out of the smoke and lava like it was emerging from a manhole. I hoped the Mist would keep the humans from seeing it clearly, because what I saw would've caused panic and riots across the entire United States. **

"Which was just what we needed," Thalia muttered sarcastically.

**The giant was bigger than anything I'd ever encountered. Even my demigod eyes couldn't make out its exact form through the ash and fire, but it was vaguely humanoid and so huge it could've used the Chrysler Building as a baseball bat. The mountain shook with a horrible rumbling, as if the monster were laughing.**

"Yup, it's _exactly _what we needed," Nico grinned.

"We get the point, now shut up," Rachel reprimanded without even glancing at him.

**"It's him," I said. "Typhon."**

"Who?" an oblivious student asked. Nobody answered. (nobody, not Nobody)

**I was seriously hoping Chiron would say something good, like _No, that's our huge friend Leroy! He's going to help us!_ But no such luck.**

"One would wish," Thalia agreed.

**He simply nodded. "The most horrible monster of all, the biggest single threat the gods ever faced. He has been freed from under the mountain at last. But this scene is from two days ago. _Here_ is what is happening today."**

**Chiron waved his hand and the image changed. I saw a bank of storm clouds rolling across the Midwest plains. Lightning flickered. Lines of tornadoes destroyed everything in their path – ripping up houses and trailers, tossing cars around like Matchbox toys.**

"Good thing it didn't reach us…" Trailing off as he took in the demigods' expressions, the student asked, "Did it?"

"You'll have to see," Nico shrugged.

**"_Monumental floods_," an announcer was saying. "_Five states declared disaster areas as the freak storm system sweeps east, continuing its path of destruction_." The cameras zoomed in on a column of storm bearing down on some Midwest city. I couldn't tell which one. Inside the storm I could see the giant – just small glimpses of his true form: a smoky arm, a dark clawed hand the size of a city block. His angry roar rolled across the plains like a nuclear blast. Other smaller forms darted through the clouds, circling the monster. I saw flashes of light, and I realized the giant was trying to swat them. I squinted and thought I saw a golden chariot flying into the blackness. Then some kind of huge bird – a monstrous owl – dived in to attack the giant.**

"What's that?" several people wondered aloud.

**"Are those… the gods?" I said.**

**"Yes, Percy," Chiron said. "They have been fighting him for days now, trying to slow him down. But Typhon is marching forward – toward New York. Toward Olympus."**

"Olympus is in New York?" someone exclaimed, shocked.

"Well, yeah," Thalia replied.

"Where?"

"We'll get to that. By the gods, you're so impatient!" she muttered.

**I let that sink in. "How long until he gets here?"**

**"Unless the gods can stop him? Perhaps five days. Most of the Olympians are there… except your father, who has a war of his own to fight."**

**"But then who's guarding Olympus?"**

**Connor Stoll shook his head. "If Typhon gets to New York, it won't matter who's guarding Olympus."**

One of the Goode kids tilted her head slightly. "So they're just putting all their energy against Typhon?"

"Yeah. And it's sort of reasonable, too, seeing as he's the biggest threat," Rachel answered.

"But they shouldn't just leave Olympus unguarded…"

**I thought about Kronos's words on the ship: _I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I will destroy Olympus._ **

**Was this what he was talking about: an attack by Typhon? It was sure terrifying enough. But Kronos was always fooling us, misdirecting our attention. This seemed too obvious for him. And in my dream, the golden Titan had talked about several more challenges to come, as if Typhon were only the first.**

"If Typhon's the first, I don't want to see the others," someone said fearfully.

**"It's a trick," I said. "We have to warn the gods. Something else is going to happen."**

**Chiron looked at me gravely. "Something worse than Typhon? I hope not."**

**"We have to defend Olympus," I insisted. "Kronos has another attack planned."**

**"He did," Travis Stoll reminded me. "But you sunk his ship." Everyone was looking at me. They wanted some good news. They wanted to believe that at least I'd given them a little bit of hope. **

"Yeah, we did," Travis said quietly. "The whole war was… pretty depressing, even without the deaths."

**I glanced at Annabeth. I could tell we were thinking the same thing: What if the _Princess Andromeda_ was a ploy? What if Kronos let us blow up that ship so we'd lower our guard?**

Sharp gasps went around the room. He could be right. But then…

**But I wasn't going to say that in front of Silena. Her boyfriend had sacrificed himself for that mission.**

**"Maybe you're right," I said, though I didn't believe it. **

**I tried to imagine how things could get much worse. The gods were in the Midwest fighting a huge monster that had almost defeated them once before. Poseidon was under siege and losing a war against the sea Titan Oceanus. Kronos was still out there somewhere. Olympus was virtually undefended. The demigods of Camp Half-Blood were on our own with a spy in our midst.**

"I see what you mean by depressing," Daniel mused to Travis.

**Oh, and according to the ancient prophecy, I was going to die when I turned sixteen – which happened to be in five days, the exact same time Typhon was supposed to hit New York. Almost forgot that.**

"At least it means you'll _definitely_ survive until then!" Leo offered.

**"Well," Chiron said, "I think that's enough for one night." He waved his hand and the steam dissipated. The stormy battle of Typhon and the gods disappeared.**

**"That's an understatement," I muttered.**

**And the war council adjourned.**

Everyone was pretty quiet as Paul glanced at the next page and said, "Chapter four, We Burn a Metal Shroud."

* * *

**DragonAce1999: So... This is extraordinarily late, I know, and I'm very sorry. But I lent out my copy of the book to a friend... And I got it back about the time my computer broke... And then I updated Guild of Chaos...**

**Anyway, thank you all for reading! Special thanks to the following reviewers of last chapter:**

**TimeLadyofTARDIS, CaptainSeaWater, annabeth lopez, TalkingFish, maverickiceman, SomethingMoreCreative, ClearBear, percylover4ever, Phoenix the Shade goddess, LovePercabeth4eva, Lady Kid, Guest, The Demigod Gryffindor, RTRfootball, kookiepup12, The Keeper of Worlds, ADayWithNoLaughterIsADayWasted (love your name, by the way), Nico's Girlfriend1, ClearBear (did you log out and in to review _twice_?), Oboealison, Guest, PokemonandPJO, Laureleaf3, Curlycorkscrewsrule12, StellaHunterOfArtemis, MidnightGlows, Silver Moon Huntress, Saraarena, Xtine, DeadGirl4Ever, and 1 PERCY JACKSON FAN.**

**Thank you for your patience, and please review!**

* * *

Published: 7/15/13  
Updated: 7/30/13


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